AFCON
Afcon 2023 teams set up seven pre-tournament camps in the Middle East and Africa
With the clock ticking down to the 13 January kick-off date for the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the 24 teams have set up seven camps in the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa and West Africa as well as some remaining at home.
The camps are in Saudi Arabia, UAE, West Africa, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria as well as some remaining in their home countries.
In the United Arab Emirates are six teams from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Cape Verde Angola and Guinea.
Fourth in the last edition, Burkina Faso chose to set up camp in Dubai on December 28, where the Stallions will play a mini-tournament with Nigeria and the DR Congo.
The Congolese and Burkinabes will face off on January 10.
It’s worth noting that Sébastien Desabre’s men are expected in Abu Dhabi at the end of December.
These two teams will be joined by Cape Verde, fine-tunning its preparation in Abu Dhabi before flying to Rades in Tunisia where they will face the Carthage Eagles on January 10.
Abu Dhabi is a carefully considered choice for Kaba Diawara: “Initially, we will meet in Conakry on December 28 and do everything related to flag presentation, celebration, receiving the head of state, and saying goodbye to families on our soil.
“We will be in Abu Dhabi on the 31st to start training. We will leave there for Cote d’Ivoire on January 11 or 12, 2024,” explained the Guinean coach.
Nigeria chose to set up in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates during their preparation. The Super Eagles will face the DR Congo and Burkina Faso during this period.
Nigerians will likely encounter Angola, who also chose Dubai for their training camp.
At the Saudi Arabia training camp are the quartet of Cameroon, Gambia, Zambia, and Cape Verde which also will partly be in UAE and later Tunisia.
Cameroon and Gambia, the two teams set to face each other on January 23 in Group B of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, will prepare in the same country of Saudi Arabia.
According to the Cameroonian press, a contingent of 23 Indomitable Lions will travel to Jeddah on December 27.
Gambia will stay in Saudi Arabia from December 27 to January 5 before heading to Morocco, where a match against the Atlas Lions is planned on January 7.
After a brief gathering with local players, Zambia will fly to Riyadh, with a friendly match scheduled around January 7.
South Africa is another training centre where Ghana and Mozambique will be. Ghanaians will spend New Year’s Eve together in South Africa. The Black Stars will undergo a 10-day training camp where the press and the public will not be able to attend their sessions.
A test match against Botswana is scheduled for Chris Hughton’s men on January 8 before flying to Abidjan.
Mozambicans will also travel to South Africa before the Africa Cup of Nations.
The trio of Algeria, Guinea Bossau and Namibia opted to set up camp in West Africa
Algeria heads to Togo. From January 1 to 10, the Fennecs will conduct their preparation stage in Lomé. The 2021 African champions will play against Togo on January 5 and Burundi on January 9.
Guinea Bissau will go to Mali. The Djurtus will face the Eagles on January 3 before heading to Ivory Coast on January 7. Namibia will be in Ghana.
Both Mauritania and Zambia opted to set up training camp in Tunisia. After Abu Dhabi, Cape Verde will go to Tunisia, where a match against the Carthage Eagles is scheduled.
Mauritania will start its preparation in Tabarka, a coastal city in northwest Tunisia. Amir Abdou and his team will be there until January 11 and will face Tunisia on January 6.
Tanzania will prepare on the side of Annaba in Algeria. Two friendly matches against nations participating in the AFCON are under discussion.
Eight nations have decided to carry out their preparation at home, including Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Tunisia, Mali, Senegal, and Ivory Coast, the host country of the competition.
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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