AFCON
Sports Minister celebrates Keshi at 60 posthumously…tasks Eagles to win For ‘Big Boss’ on Sunday
Nigeria’s Youth and Sports Development Minister Sunday Dare has called on the Super Eagles to win their AFCON round of 16 game against Tunisia on Sunday as a mark of honour for a former captain and coach of the team, Stephen Keshi.
Keshi won the Africa Cup of Nations as a player in 1994 and as a head coach in 2013, one of only two people to achieve the feat. The other was Mohammed El Gohary of Egypt.
Big Boss, as the late Keshi was fondly called, also won silver at the Africa Cup of Nations in 1984 and 1988 as well as a bronze medal in 1992.
The Minister in a message to the Eagles ahead of the crucial clash against Tunisia tasked them to honour the departed former captain and coach posthumously with another good performance and a win.
“Keshi was one of the greatest icons of the Africa Cup of Nations as a player and coach in Nigeria. He would have been 60 on Sunday if he was still around with us. We can celebrate him posthumously with another good performance and a sweet victory in our round of 16 game against Tunisia in Garoua, Cameroon on Sunday,” Dare said.
The present Eagles coach, Augustine Eguavoen, was team mates with Keshi in 1988, 1992 and was his assistant captain in 1994 while the goalkeeper coach, Alloy Agu, was in the 1990, 1992 and 1994 teams.
Captain of the current Eagles Ahmed Musa and defender Kenneth Omeruo were in the 2013 squad that won the tournament in South Africa while Joseph Yobo who was the captain of that team is an assistant coach in the present set up.
Keshi was born in Azare, Bauchi State in 1962 and passed on in Benin City, Edo State in June 2016.
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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