AFCON
It’s 30 days to AFCON: Ivorian football legend, Salomon Kalou says “We are happy to welcome all of Africa”
Ivorian sharp-shooter, Salomon Kalou says Cote d’Ivoire is excited to welcome Africa to the Ivorian nation next year.
With exactly 30 Days to Kick Off, the Arta Solar7 striker spoke to CAFOnline ahead of the much anticipated CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023 set to take place between 13 January – 11 February next year.
We are 30-Days from the start of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations. How excited about seeing your nation hosting Africa’s biggest event?
We are happy to welcome all of Africa. We can’t wait to celebrate football. Ivory Coast is a land of football. We had a lot of legends like Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Gervinho and so on. Players who made the colours of the country shine for many years. Organizing this AFCON is something very important for us, the last time we hosted this competition was in 1984.
It has been 40 years since Ivory Coast hosted AFCON, which is an eternity for a nation passionate about football like Ivory Coast. There is a lot of passion around this event. I want to thank His Excellency the President of the Republic, Alassane Ouattara, for the infrastructure put in place.
We imagine that as a footballer, you would have liked to play an AFCON tournament at home?
Absolutely! It would have been a dream for me! I would have liked to be in my younger brothers’ place. Wearing the orange jersey, playing in front of my people and my heart beating to the sounds of their encouragement – I get chills just thinking about it.
I am here to encourage the children, to give them all the strength they need. As a supporter, I also plan to take advantage of this good time and enjoy the mix of different cultures.
Ivory Coast headlines Group A with Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. What are your thoughts on the group?
Firstly, it’s a group made up of very good teams, starting with Nigeria which is a very dangerous side. At each AFCON, the Super Eagles show great potential. During the last edition, Equatorial Guinea did well, and Guinea Bissau may be the surprise of the group.
We will have to respect all the teams and above all, win the first match to start the competition well, because that is where everything starts from.
A message for the Elephants and all of Ivory Coast?
Let us rally behind the team. We need all the good vibes around this team which will give the best of itself. Our selection is made up of young players who need to be supported, and that is what we will do.
-Caf
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has sacked its Serbian coach, Milutin Sredojević who is popularly known as Micho.
This is coming ahead of Libya’s back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations clashes with Nigeria next month.
Paradoxically, Sports Village Square gathered that the coach’s contract was only recently renewed for six months before the axe fell on the Serbian.
His sack was precipitated by the results obtained in their teo matches of the AFCON qualifiers.
Libya drew 1-1 with Rwanda at home and lost 2-1 away to Benin Republic despite beig a goal up at half time.
The Libyan side, Mediterranean Knights are due to play against the Nigeria Super Eagles in Uyo on 6 October while the return leg holds on 14 October at the 11 July Stadium in Tripoli.
According to information Sports Village Square gathered from Tripoli, the Mediterranean Knights’ coach, Micho led the Libyan national team to win nine matches since taking over in October of last year, he failed to build a strong team due to his poor choices.
He also took a risk with the footballers chosen in the AFCON qualifiers, and the result was shocking to the Libyan sports audience.
According to sources close to the Libyan Football Federation, there is a strong tendency to sign a national coach to lead the Libyan team during the remaining qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe has lashed out at Ghana and some other African countries whose home grounds were recently banned from hosting CAF matches owing to inadequate facilities. He made the remarks in Nairobi, Kenya during a press conference,
After the MatchDay 2 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, CAF ruled Ghana’s Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi as being inadequate to host international matches. Being the only approved ground in the country, Ghana will now look towards either Cote d’Ivoire or Togo for their remaining home matches of the Afcon qualifiers.
Other African countries without approved home grounds are: Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, São Tomé and Burundi.
Motsepe voiced his frustration over the recurring issue of nations being unable to host home games.
“Nothing frustrates me more than a national team or club side having to play home matches outside,” he stated.
He stressed the significance of playing in front of home fans, adding, “You can’t grow football if the national teams or club sides aren’t playing in front of their home fans.”
Motsepe reiterated CAF’s commitment to working with countries to ensure they have at least one suitable stadium to host international fixtures.
“Our conversations in every country are to make sure there is at least one stadium capable of hosting a CAF category C game,” he emphasized.
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
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