AFCON

Egypt’s Coach, Queiroz cries foul, claiming they were denied a penalty against Nigeria

Published

3 years ago

January 12, 2022

Egypt’s coach, Carlos Queiroz is reportedly angry at referee Bakary Gassama performance in his team’s 1-0 loss to the Super Eagles.

His grouse was that his team deserved a penalty kick award in the hectic and dicey second half of the game.

While failing to create many chances, Egypt had a penalty shout after Zizo was brought down inside the Nigerian penalty box by Moses Simon; however, the referee whistled for a foul on the Zamalek winger instead.

Despite the pressure of the Egyptian players, referee Bakary Gassama awarded the foul to Nigeria, with the VAR assuring there is no need for him to go back to see the incident.

Carlos Queiroz felt being robbed a huge chance to get something out of the game, insisting his side were denied a clear penalty, that even his grandmother would have awarded.

“In the second half, there was a very clear penalty for us that the referee didn’t award and the VAR did not intervene,” Queiroz was reported to have said by AfricaFootUnited.

“Maybe at that time, the VAR was not working.

“There was clearly a penalty. It wasn’t our day, it wasn’t also a good day for the refereeing. Even my grandmother would have awarded it a penalty.

“It is a disaster because there are VAR referees. It is unacceptable. Watch the incident yourself. It’s unbelievable that with all these referees, no one noticed the penalty,” he added.

The game marked Egypt’s first AFCON opener defeat since 2002 when they lost to Senegal 1-0 and their first group-stage defeat when they fell against Algeria in Tunisia.

Egypt now need to beat their remaining Group D opponents, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau, in order to book their spot in the round of 16.

The Pharaohs fell to a 1-0 defeat against Nigeria, thanks to a goal from Kelechi Iheanacho late in the first-half. The Super Eagles were by far the more dangerous side for the entirety of the encounter and could’ve increased the gap if it wasn’t for Mohamed El-Shennawy’s heroic performance.

The game marked Egypt’s first AFCON opener defeat since 2002 when they lost to Senegal 1-0 and their first group-stage defeat when they fell against Algeria in Tunisia.

Egypt now need to beat their remaining Group D opponents, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau, in order to book their spot in the round of 16.

“We only started playing in the second-half. There’s no clear reason behind this failure and defeat against Nigeria.

AFCON

Libya sacks coach ahead of AFCON qualifying back-to-back matches with Nigeria

Published

4 days ago

September 17, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Milutin Sredojević

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

Published

4 days ago

September 17, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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

Published

1 week ago

September 12, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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