AFCON
12 amazing facts ahead of Nigeria – Sudan AFCON Match
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The Super Eagles will be attempting to pick qualification ticket for the knock-out stage of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations as they face Sudan on Saturday. A win for the Nigerian side not only retain for the Super Eagles the top spot in Group D, it confirms their place in the second round of the competition.
Sudan on the other hand will hope for a win to remain in contention for qualification for the knock out stage.
As usual, www.sportsvillagesquare.com takes an insightful look at the match and comes out with the following points of interest.
- It was in a match against Sudan that Nigeria became the first African country to reach the 100 goal mark in the World Cup qualifiers when Victor Agali scored the second in a 3-0 win in 2001.
- Sudan have won the African title only once in 1970 as against the three titles by Nigeria in 1980, 1994 and 2013.
- Sudan and Nigeria first met in the framework of the Africa Cup of Nations. Both were in Pool 2 of the 1963 edition of Africa Cup of Nations in Kumasi, Ghana.
- In their first ever encounter, Sudan, then one of the African powerhouses, beat Nigeria 4-0.
- This Saturday’s match will be Nigeria’s 95th Africa Cup of Nations match since the 1963 debut in Kumasi, Ghana.
- This match will be Sudan’s 26st match in the Africa Cup of Nations’ history since being one of the pioneers of the competition in 1957.
- Nigeria are currently ranked by FIFA as world’s number 36th, Sudan are ranked 125th.
- Nigeria used Sudan as launchpad to qualify for the football event of the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico after winning by a toss of coin following a 2-2 aggregate draw. Nigeria went ahead to beat Ethiopia to pick the ticket to the Olympics.
- When Port Harcourt became the 10th home ground for the Super Eagles in a competitive match, a World Cup qualifier, it was in a duel against Sudan.
- The revival mission that led to Super Eagles’ qualification for the 2002 World Cup started with a 4-0 defeat of Sudan in Ombdurman. It remains Nigeria’s biggest away win in a competitive match.
- When Nigeria missed out from the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations following a last minute goal conceded in the six minute of added time in their home game with Guinea, the Sudanese who had six minutes earlier been eliminated were the beneficiaries, fortuitously picking the ticket as lucky second-place qualifier. This is their next qualification since the 2012 edition.
- In head-to-head confrontations, Nigeria has the edge over Sudan having won eight of 16 encounters while Sudan won four.
P W D L F A
Nigeria 16 8 4 4 28 16
Sudan 16 4 4 8 16 28
- 28 Nov. 1963 (CAN) Sudan 4 -0 Nigeria
- 5 Nov. 1967 (OQ.) Nigeria 1-0 Sudan
- 19 Nov. 1967 (OQ) Sudan 2-1 Nigeria
- 25 April 1993 (ACNq) Nigeria 4-0 Sudan
- 10 Nov. 1967 (OQ.) Sudan 2-1 Nigeria
- 13 Sept. 1969 (WCq) Nigeria 2-2 Sudan
- 2 Oct. 1969 (WCq) Sudan 3-3 Nigeria
- 13 Apr. 1973 (ACNq) Sudan 1-1 Nigeria
- 21 Apr. 1973 (ACNq) Nigeria 2-1 Sudan
- 4 Mar. 1976 (ACN) Sudan 0 -1 Nigeria
- 16 Aug. 1992 (ACNq) Sudan 0-0 Nigeria
- 27 Jan 2001 (WCq) Nigeria 3-0 Sudan
- 1 July 2001 (WCq) Sudan 0-4 Nigeria
- 9 Jan. 2008 (F) Sudan 0-2 Nigeria
- 11 Oct 2014 (ACNq) Sudan 1-0 Nigeria
- 15 Oct. 2014 (ACNq) Nigeria 3-1 Sudan
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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