AFCON
TALES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT OVERSHADOWS EGYPT’S LAST GROUP MATCH
There have been more of off the field incidents more that the actual team preparations as Egypt play their last group match this Sunday against Uganda.
At the centre of it is winger, Amr Warda who has been accused on social media platforms of sexual harassment by different women.
That prompted the Egyptian FA to drop him from its 23-man squad.
According to an Egyptian publication, ahram, the Greece-based Warda is no stranger to controversy.
He was under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, having released a video to offer his apologies after appearing to admit to sending inappropriate messages via Whatsapp to an Egyptian fashion model.
A Mexican woman also published a video which she said was sent to her by Warda, purportedly showing him naked. The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) acted swiftly, sending him packing and saying he would no longer represent the team at the Nations Cup.
However, the governing body has seemingly buckled under pressure from some leading players, including skipper Ahmed Elmohamady and Mohamed Salah, with the Liverpool talisman calling for Warda to be given another chance despite acknowledging that his teammate had made a mistake.
“We need to believe in second chances… we need to guide and educate. Shunning is not the answer,” he wrote in a tweet that went viral.
Elmohamady held up two fingers on each hand to refer to Warda’s number 22 shirt after scoring in Egypt’s 2-0 win over DR Congo on Wednesday, which lifted the hosts to the last 16, before saying the entire squad had given its backing to the 25-year-old.
His statements and Salah’s comments caused a social media outcry, which was further fuelled by the EFA’s decision to pardon Warda.
Despite sealing smooth progress to the knockout stage with maximum six points from two games, Egypt will be under even more pressure to lift a record-extending eighth trophy, with any failure likely to be attributed to the off-field problems that have cast a cloud over the team’s campaign.
Egypt found no difficulty brushing aside Zimbabwe and DR Congo but have hardly produced any attacking flair despite coach Javier Aguirre’s vow to reverse their dependence on defence, which was a hallmark of Hector Cuper’s era when they reached the Nations Cup final in 2017 and qualified for the World Cup last year.
They will be eager to defeat Uganda and ensure their progress as Group A leaders. The Cranes are likely to provide a stiffer test than what the other teams had offered, having collected four points from two matches.
“We achieved a very important thing; winning six points from the two matches and ensuring qualification for the next round while keeping a clean sheet, and that is a good thing,” Aguirre told a news conference in Cairo.
“Uganda is a strong and well organised team who play with a fighting spirit … I think it will be a stiff confrontation.”
Egypt will play their remaining games at the Nations Cup with only two goalkeepers after third-choice goalie Mahmoud Gennesh ruptured an Achilles tendon during a training session on Friday.
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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