AFCON
NIGERIA, EGYPT KICK OFF PREPARATIONS FOR AFCON 2019 WITH NEW FACES
When Nigeria and Egypt meet on Tuesday in Asaba as part of preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations, both are likely to test new faces.
According to Egyptian publication, Ahram, Egypt’s Mexican tactician, Javier Aguirre will continue examining new faces. It is the first post Afcon 2019 qualification warm-up game for both sides.
The Egyptian team is supposed to play three other friendly matches in the final preparations before the competition, which is scheduled to take place from 21 June to 13 July.
Egypt’s perfect run under Aguirre came to an end after Saturday’s 1-1 away draw against Niger in the last round of the Nations Cup qualifiers.
“Sure I wanted to win the match despite the fact that the result wasn’t influential,” Aguirre said in the press conference after the match.
“My main target was to examine new faces by giving them a chance against Niger; a game that we played in difficult weather conditions,” Aguirre added.
Against Niger, Aguirre gave debuts to Pyramids duo Ahmed Mansour and Nabil Emad and Ittihad’s on-loan youngster Ammar Hamdi, as well as introducing other fresh faces such as Ahly right-back Mohamed Hani and midfielder Amr El-Sulaya.
Egypt, who have already booked a place in Africa’s flagship tournament with one match to spare, finished second in Group J with 13 points, three behind leaders Tunisia.
“Managing Egypt is a very special mission as Egypt has a big history in African football,” the 60-year-old Aguirre told a press conference ahead of the Nigeria match.
“I can feel a great concern with the competition in Egypt. I am preparing a team that would truly compete for the title.
“The Nigeria match is strong experience. I asked for this game as Nigeria is among the strongest teams in Africa. Resting big names like Mohamed Salah was to give the chance for new faces,” he added.
On the other side, examining new faces would be also a priority for Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr against the seven-time African champions Egypt.
“We will have new players against Egypt. A new striker and a new defender,” Rohr said in the match’s press conference.
“We want to deploy other players in the match, but the most important thing is to play wonderful football,” he added.
With Aguirre at the helm, Egypt have won all the qualifier matches; crushing Niger 6-0, defeating eSwatini 4-1 at home and 2-0 away, and beating Tunisia 3-2, before Saturday’s draw in N’Djamena.
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
Many fans risk missing 2026 World Cup as Visa window for visitors is closing
Nigeria’s Victor Olatunji becomes third African scoring debutant in Uefa Champions League
Lagos sports writers mourn Adeyinka Adebayo
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
AIU releases its report on Tobi Amusan
-
AFCON1 week agoSuper Eagles lead Afcon Group D qualifiers despite Benin’s defeat of Libya
-
AFCON1 week agoAustin Eguavoen remains the ‘Big Boss’, says NFF
-
AFCON1 week agoWhy I benched Osimhen again – Eguavoen
-
AFCON1 week agoRwanda newspaper gives 5 lessons gleaned from Rwanda-Nigeria clash
-
Nigerian Football1 week agoWesterhof recommends Siasia for Super Eagles’ job
-
AFCON1 week agoNigeria’s managerial crisis resumes as Eguavoen reportedly declines to continue
-
AFCON1 week agoPresent and Past as CAF Coaches Symposium unites Rohr, Peseiro and Eguavoen
-
CAF Confederation Cup6 days agoEnyimba continues unbeaten run against Burkina Faso clubs