AFCON
AFCON 2021: Mauritania includes 16-year-old ‘prodigy’ in provisional squad
French coach Didier Gomes da Rosa, who took over last November from his compatriot Corentin Martins as Mauritania coach, released on Thursday a provisional 30-players squad for the upcoming AFCON, Cameroon 2021.
AS Douanes young midfielder Beyatt Lekweiry was the squad surprise, as the 16-years-old became the youngest player in Gomes selection.
The teenager has grown accustomed to skipping stages, having been selected for the Mauritania U-20 national team at the age of 15, when he played in the U-20 Arab Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2020.
However, his progress was hampered by a serious injury that did not allow him to take part in the TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON that took place in Mauritania last February – March.
At 16, this is a good promotion for the young midfielder to be included in the provisional squad, that will be reduced to 28 players on December 28.
Besides Beyatt, Da Rosa gave a debut call to three more players. They are Pape Ibnou Ba, French Le Havre forward, Souleymane Doukara (Giresunspor Kulubu, Turkey) and defender Souleymane Karamako (Nancy, France).
Apart from the new faces, the French coach, who led the Mourabitounes during the FIFA Arab World Cup, recalled the regulars of captain Abdoul Ba and Adama Ba.
Mauritania play in AFCON 2021 Group F with Mali, Gambia and Tunisia.
This will be their second Africa Cup of Nations finals after that of 2019.
Provisional Squad:
Goalkeepers: Babacar Diop (FC Nouadhibou), Mbacké Ndiaye (Nouakchott Kings), Mohamed El Moktar (AS Douanes)
Defenders: Bakary Ndiaye (AS Rhodes, Greece), Abdoul Ba (Al Ahli, Libya), Diadié Diarra (Goal FC, France), El Hassen Houbeibib (Al Zawaraa, Iraq), Harouna Abou Demba (Unattached), Souleymane Karamoko (Nancy, France), Aly Abeid (Valenciennes, France), Houssen Abderahmane (Royal Francs Borains, Belgium), Abdoulkader Thiam (US Boulogne, France)
Midfielders: Mohamed Dellah Yaly (Unattached), Guessouma Fofana (Cluj, Romania), Ibréhima Coulibaly (Le Mans, France), Yacoub Sidi (AS Vita, DR Congo), Khassa Camara (NorthEast United FC, India), Almike Moussa Ndiaye (Goal FC, France), Mohsen Bodda (FC Nouadhibou), Mahmoud Abdallahi (NK Istra, Croatia), Mohamed Soueid (FC Nouadhibou), Beyatt Lekweiry (AS Douanes)
Forwards: Aboubakar Kamara (Aris Thessaloniki, Greece), Hemeya Tanjy (FC Nouadhibou), Oumar Camara (Beroe Stara Zagora, Bulgaria), Adama Ba (RS Berkane, Morocco), Souleymane Doukara (Giresunspor Kulubu, Turkey), Idrissa Thiam (ASAC Concorde), Souleymane Anne (Royal Excelsior Virton, Belgium), Pape Ibnou Ba (Le Havre, France)
AFCON
Libya sacks coach ahead of AFCON qualifying back-to-back matches with Nigeria
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.
AFCON
CAF president blasts Ghana, others over stadium ban
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.
AFCON
Present and Past as CAF Coaches Symposium unites Rohr, Peseiro and Eguavoen
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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