AFCON
Twenty one stars risk missing out in Africa Cup of Nations final match
Up to 21 stars have been involved in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals this week knowing one mistimed tackle would rule them out of the biggest match in the continent.
Burkina Faso had 10 players in their squad walking the disciplinary tightrope with one yellow card each, record seven-time champions Egypt have five and hosts Cameroon and Senegal three each.
Senegal beat Burkina Faso in the first semi-final on Wednesday night in Yaounde while Cameroon confront Egypt in a hard-to-predict showdown 24 hours later.
All 21 have been cautioned in the knockout phase, and a second yellow card will trigger an automatic one-match suspension and exclusion from either the final or third-place play-off.
There are few more heart-breaking situations for any footballers than being forced to sit out a final because they accumulated two yellow cards.
In the Cup of Nations it happened to Ghana superstar Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew in 1992 when he missed the title decider in Dakar against the Cote d’Ivoire, who won 13-12 on penalties after the longest final shootout in the competition.
Burkina Faso players in danger include six who began the quarter-final win over Tunisia — goalkeeper Herve Koffi, defenders Issa Kabore and Edmond Tapsoba and midfielders Adama Guira, Blati Toure and Cyrille Bayala.
The other Stallions who could face suspension are midfielders Boureima Bande and Saidou Simpore and forwards Mohamed Konate and Abdoul Fessal Tapsoba.
Egypt, already hit by injuries to goalkeepers Mohamed Elshenawy and Mohamed Abou Gabal and centre-back Ahmed Hegazy, can ill afford to lose any more players as they seek a first title since 2010.
The five Egyptians on the tightrope are defenders Mohamed Abdelmonem, Omar Kamal and Ayman Ashraf, who can also operate in midfield, and forwards Mostafa Mohamed and Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed.
Only ‘Zizo’ is unlikely to start against the Indomitable Lions in a repeat of the 2017 final in Libreville won by five-time champions Cameroon.
All the Senegal players with one yellow card — defender Saliou Ciss and midfielders Nampalys Mendy and Pape Gueye — started the last-eight triumph over Equatorial Guinea.
Defender Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui and midfielders Martin Hongla and Andre Franck Zambo Anguissa are the Cameroonians who have been cautioned in the past two rounds, and are probable starters against Egypt.
The most card-littered match of the 48 so far in the flagship African tournament was the last-16 battle between Burkina Faso and Gabon.
Gabonese Sidney Obissa was sent off and eight of the team yellow-carded, along with six Burkinabe, who won on penalties.
The final and third-place play-off are scheduled for Sunday.
Africa Cup of Nations disciplinary records
(including quarter-finals)
Red cards
2: Cape Verde, Ghana
1: Burkina Faso, Comoros, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tunisia
Yellow cards
14: Gabon
13: Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea
12: Gambia
10: Tunisia
9: Guinea, Malawi
8: Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe
7: Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone
6: Comoros, Mali, Morocco
4: Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan
3: Mauritania, Nigeria
Note: Red card = two-match suspension, two yellow cards = one-match suspension
-AFP
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.
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.
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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