AFCON
Afcon 2022: Super Eagles will be at home in Garoua, says Cameroonian journalist
BY KUNLE SOLAJA, who was in Douala
It is 89 days to the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. Nigeria’s Super Eagles in their 2-0 win over Central African Republic on Sunday had a feel of the Japoma Stadium, one of the designated six arenas for the delayed tournament.
The victory seems an harbinger to what they should expect when they begin the hunt for their fourth title at the Stade Roumdé Adjia in Garoua.
The venue is the furthermost stadium to the major theatre of activities in Douala, Yaounde, Bafoussam and Limbe. Owing to the distance and the weather condition, Garoua, the home town of former CAF President, Issa Hayatou, is considered unfavourable for the Super Eagles.
But a Cameroonian journalist, Lialian Neg is disabusing the minds of Nigerians. She was one of the Camerounian journalists locked out, along with those from Nigeria, from the proceedings of the Central African Republic – Nigeria World Cup qualifying match last Sunday.
Neg, like most Cameroonians, is looking forward to a Cameroon versus Nigeria final match as it had happened in 1984, 1988 and 2000. “Of course, I will wish Cameroon to win”, remarked Lillian Neg.
She said that ordinarily, there is a huge population of Nigerians in Camerooun, although largely in Yaounde and Douala, the proximity of Garoua to the Nigerian northern boarder is a ‘huge advantage’, said the journalist who is the Public Relations Officer of the Cameroonian Footballers’ National Union.
A Master Degree in International Law, she also worked at Le Démocrate newspaper as chief desk editor in charge of the English version specialized in national and international politics. Eight years of experience in this domain permitted her to write and publish a book in 2014 about the Iraqi war.
She has since the publication, she has been more active within football management and communication and writes for the Swedish independent on-line magazine, NewsVoice.se.
According to her, the Super Eagles are at great advantage in Garoua as against Egypt, Sudan and Guinea Bissau whose territories are further and most likely not going to have enough supporters.
According to her, Garoua, located on the bank of River Benue, has proximity to many Nigerian towns such as Yola, Jimeta, Mubi, Numan and Biu.
The only disadvantage could be the hot weather which most Europe-based Nigerian players may have challenges in adapting to.
When asked to comment on what appeared to be epileptic form of the Super Eagles which saw them losing at home to Central African Republic in Lagos, Lilian Neg remarked that it was sometimes difficult for a star-studded side to overcome a team without stars as the match will often be devoid of patterns.
“That am sure was what happened to your Super Eagles in Lagos”, Neg explained.
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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