AFCON
Super Eagles await AFCON Round of 16 opponents
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
So far so good. The Nigerian national football team has never had it better than their current run as they without much stress to their followers loftily flew into knock out stage of the Africa Cup of Nations.
They remain in their ‘home’ ground at Garoua where they will play the Round of 16 match on Sunday against yet to be known opponents.
Their opponents will emerge this evening after the conclusion of Groups E and F matches. The arithmetic as well as permutations are complex.
With third-place Malawi in Group B already assigned to face Morocco, the Group C winners, Nigeria will face any of the third placed teams in Groups E and F.
Currently, Sierra Leone with two points are third in Group E. But their position and total points could change after their final group match with Equatorial Guinea who on three points are second.
Among the six third placed teams at the moment, Sierra Leone are fifth, meaning that they are out of contention except they garner points in today’s match.
If Sierra Leone, draw specialists should again draw with Equatorial Guinea, they will have three points which could improve to five in the event of victory.
The other group match which is also crucial to Nigeria is the clash of Cote d’Ivoire and Algeria.
A win for Algeria could push the defending champions to either second or third. If they finish third, they are likely to face Nigeria.
In Group F, Tunisia who have three points in a keenly contested group are already assured of a top three finish. That could also put them in direct clash with Nigeria on Sunday.
So as it is, any of the following are likely to face Nigeria on Sunday – Algeria, Tunisia, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea.
Runners up to Nigeria in Group D, Egypt are also in the waiting for the Group E winners where a three-horse race of Gambia, Mali and Tunisia is on.
While Nigeria and Egypt as well as Cameroon are still awaiting their opponents, the confirmed fixtures for the Round of 16 are:
- Burkina Faso vs Gabon in Limbe on Sunday
- Senegal vs Cape Verde in Bofoussam on Tuesday
- Morocco vs Malawi in Yaounde on Tuesday.
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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