AFCON
Angola stage thrilling comeback to defeat CAR in 2023 AFCON qualifier
Angola staged a spectacular second-half comeback to claim a deserving 2-1 victory over Central African Republic in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Wednesday.
The Palancas Negras, who are vying for a place in next year’s tournament, scored twice in five minutes in the second half to win the game 2-1 at the Estadio 11 de Novembro in Luanda to send their fans into raptures.
But it was the visitors who broke the deadlock through Samuel Nlend on 32 minutes but the home side rallied after the break as goals from M’Bala Nzola and Gelson Dala sealed the turnaround for the home side.
Angola coach Pedro Goncalves was confident of a home victory and named a very strong starting line-up to face the Wild Beasts with a competitive debut for Helder Costa.
Ary Papel, Nicolaou Yano Duarte and Gelson Dala were all in the start list as the Palancas Negras sought to start the qualifiers on a good note.
But Central Africa had plans to rock the boat and made their first half dominance pay off as they opened the scoring in the 32nd minute through Nlend.
Nlend, who previously represented Cameroon, was making his competitive debut and got his first goal since switching allegiance.
The strike from the Douala-born forward was the difference at the break as Raoul Savoy’s men held on to their lead.
The Angolans lifted their performance in the second half to take total control of the game with consistent pressure on the visitors.
Italy-based M’Bala Nzola restored parity for the Palancas Negras in the 72nd minute before Dala gave them the lead five minutes later with a brilliant finish.
Angola go top of Group E with the resounding victory as Ghana and Madagascar face each other in the other group encounter.
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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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