AFCON
EGYPT PICK POINT IN KENYA TO BOOK AFCON TICKET
Seven-time champions Egypt joined Comoros in qualifying to next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon from Group G after a 1-1 draw in Nairobi against Egypt.
Mohamed Magdy Afsha scored the opener for the Egyptians in the second minute before Abdallah Hassan scored the equalizer in the second half.
The result sees Egypt go to nine points, same as Comoros who drew with Togo earlier on.
Kenya remain third with four points and will duel with Togo in a dead rubber bottom of the table clash in Lome on Monday for bragging rights.
Knowing that a win or a draw would see them pick a ticket to Cameroon, the Egyptians wanted to start as quickly as possible off the blocks and they were rewarded just two minutes into the game when Afsha broke the deadlock.
The Al Ahly man struck a brilliant shot into the roof of the net after Ahmed Mostafa dummied a cross from Mohammed Salah on the right.
But despite going down early, the Kenyan side gave in a good account of themselves and got several scoring chances, settling into the game well.
Mohamed Elshenawy was kept busy in the Egyptian goal as the Kenyans constantly tried to find a way back into the game. Skipper Michael Olunga had a chance in the seventh minute but his low shot off an Abdallah Hassan cutback went straight to the keeper.
The Kenyans had another opportunity in the 17th minute when Daniel Sakari’s long throw landed on Johnstone Omurwa, but the latter’s flicked header was well collected by Elshenawy.
Seven minutes later, the Ahly keeper was called to work again, this time Teddy Akumu’s shot from outside the area off Hassan’s cutback stinging the goalie’s gloves.
Five minutes to the break, the hosts thought they had their way back into the game when Masud Juma scored off Akumu’s clipped pass but the first assistant referee’s flag was up for offside.
The home side kept the same tempo in the second half and two minutes in, Elshenawy was made to work when Masud struck a good shot from the edge of the area after a swift turn. Olunga picked up the rebound but sent his rasping shot into the side netting.
On the other end, Egypt almost made it 2-0 when Stars lost possession cheaply with the ball fed to Mahmoud Trezeguet but Ian Otieno was quick off his line to block.
Stars kept their gas on the gas and came close on the hour mark when a brilliant cross from the left, but Hassan’s connecting header at the backpost went over.
They however went level five minutes later when Hassan struck the equalizer off a goalmouth melee from a corner.
Kenya’s hunt to get an equalizer was dealt a blow in the 76th minute when defender Omurwa was sent off for an off the ball incident with Mohamed Mostafa.
With a one man advantage, Egypt pushed more bodies upfront to try and stop Kenya’s forays of attack and it worked as they held on for the win.
-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.
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