AFCON
Côte d’Ivoire hoping to make amends in heavyweight clash against Senegal –
It’s all set. Defending champions, Senegal will come up against host, Côte d’Ivoire on Monday, 29 January at the Charles Konan Bani Stadium, Yamoussoukro for the Round of 16 clash of the Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023.
The game promises to be a tough encounter based on the ambitions of the two sides in the ongoing AFCON Côte d’Ivoire 2023. With the Elephants looking to correct the wrongs of the group stage, they will go all in.
The Teranga Lions qualified from their group unbeaten and will be hoping to continue with the same energy in the knockout stage.
Côte d’Ivoire wants to make up for their poor showing in the group stage, which they progressed with only 3 points as one of the best third-placed teams.
The Elephants will want to compensate their home fans for the poor showing in their last two games against Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea by eliminating Senegal and qualifying for the quarter finals.
Aliou Cisse – Senegal coach
“Our team is going through a good period after three matches, where we achieved good results in the group stage, and I am satisfied with it. We are in a good state to focus. The statistics are there and I cannot change the past and the results. We are in the present, and we will remain focused. We are now in the eighth final, against a good Côte d’Ivoire team. We will play a very difficult match. If we win, we will continue the adventure, and if we lose, we will return home.
“We qualified with 9 points and the opponent with 3 points, this does not matter. Now a new competition has begun. Côte d’Ivoire remains a major team in Africa, they have good players. The defeat in their last two matches remain just an accident, they will show another performance in front of their fans.”
Moussa Nyakhate – Senegal defender
“We worked well this week. We must remain focused on the way we play in defense and attack. We will remain focused on ourselves in the match, and our goal remains to win. The Côte d’Ivoire national team is good, and they have players with good potential, and we respect them a lot. The atmosphere is great within the Senegalese team. Everyone is in good condition. We have a wonderful group of veterans who are mentoring the young players.”
Faye Emers – Côte d’Ivoire coach
“We prepared well for the Senegal match, and we will enter the match with confidence a lot of confidence. The players are motivated. I know the group well, and I have been with them for a year and a half. The players know what to expect from them in the Senegal match. We will enter the match with good confidence. We have worked well since I came to head the national team. Côte d’Ivoire will remain Côte d’Ivoire even though we did not perform well in the group stage. If we ask Senegal which team, they want to face in the last 16, they will choose another team that occupied the best third place other than Côte d’Ivoire.
Jean-Michael Seri – Côte d’Ivoire midfielder
“When you are competitive, you want to win the continental title, especially when you host the competition. In this competition, anything can happen. Things have now passed, and we must look into the future, where the match against Senegal awaits us. I do not want to talk about what happened. There will be a new competition within this competition in the knockout round, and we want to progress with the new coach, who is also a big brother to us.”
What a turn-around! After four previous competitive matches without a win, the Super Eagles have regained their winning mentality after a 3-0 defeat of Benin Republic in their opening 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
The win also put the Super Eagles at the top of the Group D after both Libya and Rwanda played 1-1 draw last Thursday.
It is also the biggest win by the Super Eagles since their 2023 6-0 win over Sao Tome & Principe last year September.
Great man Ademola Lookman, he put in two goals straightening the possibility of his emerging as 2024 African Footballer of the Year.
The current title holder, Victor Osimhen proved his mettle coming off the bench in the second half to double Nigeria’s lead after Lookman’s late first half goal.
The Super Eagles will now honour their next fixture against Rwanda on Tuesday with the hope of consolidating their lead.
Benin Republic with no points and a deficit of three goals are rooted at the bottom of the log.
BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The National Chairman of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club (NFSC), Rev. Samuel Ikpea has called on all Nigerians to rally round and pray for the Super Eagles ahead of Saturday’s Morocco 2025 AFCON qualifier against Benin Republic in Uyo.
Ikpea who is mobilizing support for the Super Eagles ahead of the clash in Uyo said that whatever Benin Republic come with both spiritually and physically in the game, we will surely overcome them.
“In the NFSC we have Christians, Muslims as well as those who believe in traditional worship and we respect the rights of freedom of worship of every member and all Nigerians.
“When we are faced with this kind of crucial game, we call on everyone to pray through their various believes because we foresee that Benin Republic are most likely coming to fall back on ‘black magic’ to enable them perfect a back-to-back victory over our Super Eagles after beating us 2-1 in our last meeting in a World Cup qualifier”
“We cannot underestimate the efficacy of the black magic” Ikpea further stressed, “but we believe that when we come together we can neutralize it’s efficacy.
“This is no time to sleep, we all have to rally round and do our best to support our Super Eagles because they cannot do it alone without the prayers and support of all Nigerians.
“While charging Nigerians to be positive with the team, we at the NFSC have done everything positive to overturn whatever plans they are coming with and we enjoin everyone to toe that path through prayers”.
Meanwhile, the Super Eagles camp is bubbling with training in Uyo, as team Coach Austin Eguavoen, has been working hard to perfect tactics with the boys and ensure the Super Eagles soar on Saturday.
The Super Eagles have not won a qualifying match for any competition since their 6-0 defeat of Principe & Sao Tome on 10th September 2023 in Uyo. That was their last qualifying match for Cote d’Ivoire 2023 played in 2024.
Since then, they have played four World Cup qualifying matches without a win despite being the overwhelming favourites at those matches.
A forensic analysis of their World Cup qualifying since that of Qatar 2022 will reveal they had played seven consecutive matches without a win starting from their 1-1 home draw with Cape Verde in Lagos which qualified them for the play off. In the play off with Ghana, the Super Eagles drew the two matches.
In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, they have gone four matches, getting three draws and a loss. The prospect of their getting a straight qualification from the group is doubtful as they have a mountain to climb by winning the remaining six matches, three of which are away duels of which are most likely to be played in South Africa, the home ground of their main rivals.
Zimbabwe and Lesotho play their home matches in South Africa and Nigeria also still have an away duel with Bafana Bafana.
The qualification series of AFCON 2025 presents the Super Eagles a new beginning. Starting from the semi-finals of the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, the team has won none of their four competitive matches in regulation time. The players have a date with destiny in Uyo this Saturday to wipe off the sagging image they have had in recent time.
A win will give the team the confidence expected in anticipation for future fixtures.
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