THE controversy surrounding the exit of Real Sociedad striker, Umar Sadiq, from the Super Eagles squad at the ongoing AFCON in Ivory Coast took a new turn on Tuesday after his club listed him for their Copa Del Rey clash against Osasuna on Wednesday (today). Sadiq reportedly picked up a knee injury during the pre-AFCON friendly against Guinea in Abu Dhabi and was subsequently replaced by Paul Onuachu in the Nigerian squad. After being ruled out of the tournament by the national team’s doctors last week, the player was back in Spain on Saturday and took part in some cone…
Author: Peter Noah KC
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HAMARI Traore and Lassine Sinayoko struck as Mali beat South Africa in their Africa Cup of Nations opener. Percy Tau sent a penalty over the bar for Bafana Bafana in a first half characterised by missed chances. The pattern continued until Traore tapped in the rebound after Sekou Koita’s free-kick hit the woodwork. Sinayoko seized on Kamory Doumbia’s pass to rifle the second from inside the box six minutes later and seal victory for the 1972 finalists.’ The result at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo means Mali have won all three Afcon games they have played against South…
NAMIBIA produced a huge upset as Deon Hotto’s 88th-minute header secured victory over one of the tournament favourites, Tunisia in their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations opener. The Brave Warriors – ranked 115th in the world and without a victory in any of their previous nine Afcon matches – were worthy winners in Korhogo. Striker Peter Shalulile had an earlier effort cleared off the line but Hotto pounced from Bethuel Muzeu’s cross. 2004 champions Tunisia are 87 places above Namibia in Fifa’s standings. More details shortly…
BERTRAND Traore scored a 96th-minute penalty to see Burkina Faso narrowly beat Mauritania in their Africa Cup of Nations opener in Group D. Substitute Traore sent Mauritania keeper Babacar Niasse the wrong way from the spot after Nouh Mohamed El Abd fouled Issa Kabore in the penalty area. Mauritania had been minutes away from just a third ever point at Afcon. Burkina Faso have reached the semi-finals at three of the past five Afcons but were far from their best in Bouake. Burkina Faso had looked set to follow favourites Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria in failing to win…
THE Super Eagles medical team has come under severe criticisms following the exclusion of Umar Sadiq from the team three days before the start of the African Cup of Nations. Sadiq was replaced by Paul Onuachu after the Eagles team doctor reportedly claimed the Real Sociedad striker suffered a thigh injury in the team’s 2-0 loss to Guinea in a pre-tournament friendly in Abu Dhabi last week. The 28-year-old left the Eagles camp for Spanish club Real Sociedad on Saturday and on Monday Sociedad posted a video of the Nigerian striker undergoing recovery training. In the 108-second video titled ‘Sadiq…
A FURIOS Ghana fan reportedly launched a verbal attack on manager, Chris Hughton after the Black Stars’ 2-1 defeat to Cape Verde at the African Cup of Nations on Sunday. A local media via The Mirror claimed that hours after the match, one of Ghana’s supporters in the Ivory Coast went to the team’s hotel and hurled abuse at 65-year-old Hughton. The fan was later taken away by the police. However, there are conflicting reports as to whether or not the attacker in question whose identity is still unknown was arrested by Ivorian authorities or merely removed from the vicinity.…
ALGERIA became the latest 2024 Africa Cup of Nations contenders to make a slow start to the tournament after being held to a draw by Angola. Baghdad Bounedjah put the Algerians ahead in the first half, but they were pegged back on the hour by Mabululu’s penalty. They follow Egypt, Ghana and Cameroon in failing to win their opening match. This was the first game in Group D, with Burkina Faso and Mauritania starting their campaigns on Tuesday. Algeria, captained by former Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, won Afcon in 2019 and started this game as favourites. They dominated the…
FIVE-TIME champions Cameroon were held to a draw by 10-man Guinea as the early stages of the Africa Cup of Nations continued to produce surprise results. Guinea, ranked 80th in the world, had threatened a real shock when Mohamed Bayo fired them into an early lead. But they had to play the entire second half a man light after skipper Francois Kamano stamped on Frank Magri’s heel. Magri nodded in Georges-Kevin Nkoudou’s cross to draw Cameroon level but Guinea admirably hung on for a deserved point. The Indomitable Stars almost snatched victory towards the end but Guinea keeper Ibrahim Kone…
LAMINE Camara scored twice as Senegal kicked off their Africa Cup of Nations title defence with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Gambia in Yamoussoukro on Monday. Senegal moved top of the early Group C table ahead of Cameroon’s game against Guinea later Monday. Aliou Cisse’s showed enough quality in the Ivorian heat to suggest they could become the first team to win back-to-back AFCON titles since Egypt reeled off three in a row in 2006, 2008 and 2010. Senegal’s XI featured just five of the starting team which beat Egypt on penalties in the final two years ago and it…
SUBSTITUTE Garry Rodrigues pounced in injury time to give Cape Verde a shock 2-1 win over four-time former champions Ghana in their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday. The Black Stars looked set to come away with a draw after Alexander Djiku headed home to cancel out a Jamiro Monteiro goal for Cape Verde at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan. Majeed Ashimeru was also denied a goal for Ghana following a lengthy VAR check, but Cape Verde grabbed three points in the Group B match as Rodrigues found the net at the death. It…
NEWS POINT NIGERIA reported that this tie was a tricky one in our pre-match report and it took a Mohamed Salah injury-time penalty to salvage a draw for Egypt against an unfancied Mozambique in their Group B opener at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. The penalty was awarded following a VAR check by the referee for a foul on Mostafa Mohamed in the area at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, and Salah’s strike denied Mozambique a historic first ever AFCON win. Mohamed had given record seven-time African champions Egypt the ideal start when he scored inside two…
MOHAMED Salah’s bid to finally win the Africa Cup of Nations gets underway today as Egypt take on Mozambique in Abidjan. The Pharaohs already hold the record for AFCON titles and are strongly tipped to be in amongst the race for the title in Ivory Coast. Egyptian hearts were broken with defeat in the final of both the 2017 and 2021 tournaments. They lost on penalties to Senegal in Cameroon three years ago and they will rely on a similar experienced team to get them over the line this time around. Mozambique, meanwhile, are sat 111th in the official FIFA…
SUPER Eagles were held to a 1-1 raw by the Elephants of Equatorial Guinea on Sunday in their AFCON campaign held in Ivory Coast. Nigeria came into the match beaming in some confidence with African Footballer of The Year, Victor Osimhen leading the attack. Despite injuries to Victor Boniface, Wilfred Ndidi and Sadiq Umar, they began the match in a spritely manner with Victor Oshimhen in the 4th-minute shooting wide after a mistake from Equatorial Guinea’s keeper Peserios’s men kept the momentum going and the Napoli forward came close again after the opposition parried a low shot but the linesman…
THE Super Eagles enter the fray as the Africa Cup of Nations continues in Abidjan in five minutes. Last night saw Ivory Coast shake off any pre-tournament nerves to run out deserved 2-0 winners over Guinea-Bissau thanks to goals in each half from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso, with Nigeria hoping to follow suit this afternoon ahead of their huge Group A showdown with the hosts on Thursday evening. Nigeria’s bid for a fourth AFCON title overall and a first since South Africa in 2013 is not helped by a wave of injuries that will see them without the likes…
AFRICAN footballer of the year, Victor Osimhen was always Nigeria’s biggest hope coming into the Cup of Nations, but there is even more pressure on his shoulders after the withdrawal due to injury of fellow goal-scorer Victor Boniface. The Super Eagles begin their AFCON campaign in Ivory Coast against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday before also facing the hosts and outsiders Guinea-Bissau in Group A. Nigeria are looking to win a fourth Cup of Nations, which would see them draw level with the tally of rivals Ghana, and their attacking armada is what made them appear genuine contenders to go all…
THE Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on Saturday (today) in Ivory Coast with the host nation, Nigeria and Mohamed Salah’s Egypt among the leading contenders to succeed the Senegal of Sadio Mane as continental champions. The 24-team tournament, which concludes with the final on February 11, is the first in the West African country in four decades, since just eight nations featured in the 1984 edition won by Roger Milla’s Cameroon. Senegal are defending the title they won in Cameroon in 2022, but a strong field also features Morocco and a Nigeria side spearheaded by African footballer of the…
PAUL Onuachu will replace the Real Sociedad forward Sadiq Umar who has been ruled out of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to be held in Cote d’Ivoire. Umar suffered a knee injury in Nigeria’s 2-0 loss to Guinea in a friendly game in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Hours after the development, the Super Eagles posted on their X handle, saying: “Sadiq Umar is out of the AFCON 2023 squad due to injury; Paul Onuachu replaces him.” Onuachu had been named in the Super Eagles’ provisional 40-man squad for the AFCON but was dropped for the final 25-man list…
THE Supreme Court has reversed the sack of Caleb Mutfwang, affirming him as Governor of Plateau State. On November 19, the court of appeal in Abuja sacked Mutfwang as governor of the state. The appellate court held that the PDP violated the court order and ordered that a valid congress be conducted in the 17 Local Government Areas of Plateau. The court said the party conducted congress in only five LGAs of the state “which amounted to a nullity.” But a five-member panel led by Justice Emmanuel Agim reversed the decision of the appellate court for being perverse because the…
THE Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Alex Otti’s as the governor of Abia State in the March 18, 2023 governorship election. The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel of justices, dismissed two separate appeals that sought to nullify Otti’s election victory. In its lead judgement that was read by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, the apex court held that the appeal of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Okey Ahiwe, and his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Ikechi Emenike, brought before it lacked merit. It held that there was no…
THE Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Francis Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Governor of Ebonyi State. The apex court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, dismissing the appeal of Chukwuma Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking in merit. Last November, the Court of Appeal in Lagos affirmed the election of Nwifuru as the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18 governorship election. The three-member panel presided over by Justice Jummai Sankey, in its unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal filed by Odii and upheld the earlier verdict…