AFCON
Nigeria aim to deny hosts Cote d’Ivoire in AFCON final –
Victor Osimhen’s Nigeria stand in the way of Cote d’Ivoire in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final, as the tournament hosts aim to complete the most remarkable of turnarounds by lifting the trophy.
The most thrilling AFCON in recent memory concludes at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium, on the dusty outskirts of Abidjan, with a heavyweight showdown between two West African footballing powerhouses.
Eleven years after they were last crowned continental champions, Nigeria are hoping to win their fourth title, and in doing so match the tally of old rivals Ghana.
Cote d’Ivoire, meanwhile, will join the Super Eagles on three titles if they become the first host nation to lift the trophy since Egypt beat them on penalties in 2006.
Their journey just to get to this stage has been unlike almost anything that has come before in the history of major international tournament football.
After beating Guinea-Bissau 2-0 in the opening game on January 13, things began to go awry when they lost 1-0 to Nigeria in a close-fought encounter five days later.
The Elephants then found themselves on the brink of becoming just the second Cup of Nations hosts in the last 30 years to be eliminated in the group stage after a humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea.
It was their heaviest ever home defeat, and it cost veteran French coach Jean-Louis Gasset his job.
Yet a combination of favourable results elsewhere allowed them to squeeze through to the last 16 as the last of the four best third-placed teams.
– ‘Like a dream’ –
Former player Emerse Fae became interim coach after an audacious attempt to hire Herve Renard on a short-term deal failed, and Cote d’Ivoire ousted holders Senegal on penalties in his first game.
A crazy quarter-final followed, with the 10-man Ivorians beating Mali 2-1 thanks to a winning goal in added time in extra time.
In his first start of the tournament after injury, Sebastien Haller then scored the only goal in a 1-0 defeat of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last four, taking Ivory Coast into their first final since they won the trophy under Renard in 2015.
“It’s like a dream, when you go back two weeks to the defeat here against Equatorial Guinea,” said Fae after the semi-final.
“It was hard then to imagine that we might qualify for the final of our own AFCON.”
Yet they have done it, and so like in their last final appearance in 2013 — when they defeated Burkina Faso in South Africa — Nigeria will play in the tournament’s deciding game against a side they also faced in the group stage.
That 1-0 win over the Ivorians, when captain William Troost-Ekong netted a penalty, was what kickstarted the Super Eagles’ campaign here.
They had come into the tournament hampered by a succession of injury call-offs, and with a coach who had been the target of stinging criticism back home.
– Tactical switch –
A 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea in their first game did little to ease the pressure on veteran Portuguese tactician Jose Peseiro, but a switch to a three-man central defence paid dividends against the Ivorians and he has stuck with that system since.
As a result, Nigeria recorded four straight wins — all with clean sheets — on the way to the semi-final, when they beat South Africa on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Napoli star Osimhen, the reigning African footballer of the year, is now just one game away from being an AFCON winner in what has often been a frustrating tournament for the 25-year-old.
He struck 10 times in qualifying, but has not scored in Cote d’Ivoire since netting in the opening game, although he has had three goals disallowed.
Nevertheless, Osimhen’s tireless performances have been eye-catching, and in any case the masked striker has always insisted that collective glory is all that matters.
“I always say this — it has been with me since growing up — I need to win something with the Super Eagles,” Osimhen told broadcaster Canal Plus Afrique.
“Football is one of the only things that brings joy to the country. We know a lot of people have had to work so hard just to be able to watch this game.
“I am really happy that we are able to put smiles on their faces. Now we have one more final to go and we will give everything to try to win it.”
-AFP
The on-going CAF AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Coaches Symposium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire has brought together, the last three coaches that handled the Nigeria national football team.
Gernot Rohr, Jose Peseiro and Austin Eguavoen are part of the the elite coaches currently gathered in Abidjan.
Gernot Rohr whose tenure of 5 years and 55 matches is the longest ever by any coach in Nigeria, is currently handling Nigeria’s Africa Cupof Nations and World Cup qualifying rivals, Benin Republic. He was succeeded in the interim by Austin Eguavoen who is currently having another interim stint.
Peseiro left his position after the Africa Cup of Nations
The goalless outing of Rwanda and Nigeria in Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifying match has thrown up some lessons, according to New Times, the leading newspaper in Rwanda.
New Times reckons that both teams put up a great show as Amavubi showed their pedigree against one of the giants in African football. It then pointed out the five elements that shaped the game.
Amavubi played with total confidence
No African country comes close to Nigeria in terms of “big players” country. Almost all their players are playing for top clubs in Europe’s top leagues but that did not deter Frank Spittler’s men.
They played with total confidence and self-belief. At a point in the game, Rwanda and APR FC left-back Claude Niyomugabo was mesmerizing former Chelsea and Lazio player Ola Aina who is now with Nottingham forest to the point that he was booked his jersey when he couldn’t match his pace.
Confidence among Rwandan players was high and it helped them to get goalless draw results.
Bizimana, the midfield controller
The Amavubi skipper pocketed Nigerian midfield led by Wilfred Ndidi. He run a one-man show in the middle of the pitch as he was unplayable.
His passes and tackles were superb. He track-backed several times as deep as his own penalty box to win balls.
Lookman’s danger left Rwandan defense shaking
Victor Osimhen is arguably Nigeria’s star man but it is clear that Ademola Lookman is the most dangerous player in the team.
He could hold on the ball, dribble, shoot and pass. The Atalanta winger was the best player for the visitors as he gave Amavubi a tough time before being substituted in the 89th minute for Taiwo Awoniyi.
Amavubi’s attacking problem
“The only problem with my team is in attack. You could see the difference between my attackers and the Nigerian attackers but that is what we have now. Maybe it is the Nigerian attackers who should have played against the Nigerian defenders. We created some chances but couldn’t score.”
These were some of the comments made by Amavubi head coach Torsten Spittler in the post-match press conference.
Rwanda looked solid both at the back and in midfield but the likes of Innocent Nshuti and Gilbert Mugisha weren’t up to the task in attack.
They wasted three good chances that could have resulted in goals.
Goal scoring is a problem for Amavubi and Spittler is ready to find an antidote. The German gaffer was, however, happy that his team was able to create chances which is a sign of improvement.
Fiacre Ntwari’s heroics
The Amavubi shot stopper was the hero of the day for Rwanda, and he has showed why he is among the best goalkeepers in Africa now.
Against a rampaging Nigerian attack of Victor Boniface, Osimhen, Lookman, Awoniyi and Samuel Chukwueze among others, Ntwari pulled as many as nine superb saves to keep his side in the game.
The Kaizer Chiefs shot stopper was very cool in the posts as he prevented the Nigerian attackers from scoring.
Ntwari, is gradually carving a niche for himself and he is proving to be a key component of the Amavubi set up.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has clarified the position of interim manager of the Super Eagles, Austin Eguavoen. “He is still in charge”, the NFF Head of Communications, Ademola Olajire told Sports Village Square, this Wednesday.
Austin Eguavoen who is the Technical Director at the NFF was drafted to handle the Super Eagles when the negotiation with Germany’s Bruno Labbadia broke down. Eguavoen, a former Super Eagles player and later coach was drafted to rescue the situation.
It was claimed that having executed the Super Eagles’ immediate assignments, his job was done. But the NFF spokesman has clarified that nothing has changed from the initial announcement concerning Eguavoen.
“He remains with the team and his is an employee of the NFF which has drafted him to the Super Eagles. He remains there until the federation takes another decision.
“He was surprised when we landed from our Kigali trip and I showed the trending news on the social media.”
The Super Eagles’ next assignment will be on MatchDay 3 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month when the team hosts Libya in Uyo.
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