AFCON
Interim Commander, Eguavoen opens up on his plans for Super Eagles
BY MITCHELL OBI.
Record Super Eagles coach, Austin Cerezo Eguavoen has opened up on his new assignment to rescue the Super Eagles in their double AFCON qualifier against Benin Republic and Rwanda next week.
Eguavoen, the Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation was on Friday given the task to manage the Super Eagles after a botched attempt to get the German Bruno Labbadia as replacement for Finidi George who dropped the job in June.
Upon his return from Belguim where he visited his family, Eguavoen told Mastersports International that he had been approached by the Federation and ” 1 will do it for the love of the country and the game “.
It is the fourth time he will mount the saddle as Super Eagles coach, easily a record attainment even with mixed and difficult outcomes, but the former Super Eagles coach is undaunted and says” Remember football gave me name and fame and the country gave me opportunity so it’s difficult to say no at this point because of the circumstances we find ourselves. “
Fans of the most cherished sports brand in the country, the Super Eagles,runners up in the last AFCON are not excited with the prospect of the return of Eguavoen to the team and have expressed the sentiment that it is another failure waiting to happen.
Eguavoen thinks differently. ” I am not desperate”.
September 7 in Uyo against the Benin Republic Cheetahs managed by the longest ever serving foreign coach of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, may just provide another opportunity for the once celebrated Super Eagles defender, to erase the dark patches of his chequered coaching career and redeem the image of the home grown coaches who recently lost the favour of the NFF, now forced to swallow their vomit.
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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