Category: Sports

The president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, has voiced his dissatisfaction with the performance displayed by the Super Eagles in the group stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

The president’s message was passed via Sports Minister, John Enoh, over a Zoom meeting on Wednesday.

‘I went to the villa for something else and the president cornered me and said, we managed to qualify for the Round of 16. I said your Excellency, that is how we will be going until we win the tournament.

‘He said, ‘tell our players I wasn’t too impressed in our last match but I know that now that they are off the group stage, I know they are going to impress me more and more.’ That is what the president told me,’ Enoh said.

The Super Eagles had a mixed run during the group stage of the tournament, opening with a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea followed by a 1-0 win over Ivory Coast and Guinea Bissau.

The Sports Minister, however, used the Zoom call to urge the team to remain focused and improve their performance
as they head into the knockout stages of the tournament.

The Super Eagles will take on the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon on Saturday, January 27, in Abidjan.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Rigobert Song’s game plan against Nigeria on Saturday will center on avoiding to concede goals.

The Indomitable Lions’ coach told reporters during his pre-match press conference on Friday that efforts will be made ‘to score more and concede less’.

‘It is true that we have conceded six goals, but we will get the right formula tomorrow’ Song enthused.

In the group stage, Cameroon played a 1-1 tie with Guinea, bowed to Senegal in a 3-1 defeat, but emerged victorious against Gambia in a 3-2 thriller.

‘I believe that we are here for the tournament to go as far as we can’ Song said, noting that he is not afraid of Nigeria. ‘If we’re able to achieve this stage, it is not by chance’ he stated.

The coach confirmed the presence of Aboubakar and Clinton. ‘Since Aboubakar and Clinton trained yesterday, it means they are ready for the game.’ The two players had been sidelined by injuries for the entire first phase of the tournament.

The match against Nigeria will be played at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in A
bidjan at 9pm, with the winner proceeding to face either Angola or Namibia in the quarter-final.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The knockout stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will feature 16 teams, six of which finished as group leaders, six as runners-up, and four as third-placed finishers

Given the tournament’s upsets in the group stages, predicting the teams to watch out for in the knockout stage can be challenging.

However, based on group stage performances, the defending champions Senegal would be among the strongest contenders.

Senegal are the only team to have won all group matches and secured nine points, scoring goals while conceding just one.

Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde are also teams to look at after they finished first in their groups, with Equatorial Guinea humiliating host country Ivory Coast and Cape Verde beating the black stars of Ghana and holding 7 time champions Egypt to a 2-2 draw.

However, teams like the Atlas Lions of Morocco, Angola, Mali who all finished as leaders of their groups can not be overlooked as potential contenders.

The knockout stage of the 2023 African cup of Nations will begin o
n January 27 and will run till January 30th 2024.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Legendary Nigerian footballer, Jay Jay Okocha has given the Super Eagles a word of caution ahead of their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 clash against Cameroon.

Despite Nigeria’s second place finish in Group A with seven points, Okocha feels that the match against Cameroon will be a tough nut to crack for the Super Eagles.

Okocha, who scored in Nigeria’s 2-1 win over Cameroon in 2004, urged the Super Eagles to stay focused to progress to the next stage.

‘It’s for them to try and get the win to progress to the next stage no matter what, but I want to say they should note that it is always difficult against Cameroon’ Okocha said in an interview with SportsBrief.

While Nigeria qualified as runners up in their group, the Indomitable Lions made it through to the knockout stage thanks to a gasping 3-2 victory over Gambia in their final group game.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will face the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon on Saturday January 27 at the same venue where they defeated Nigeria to claim their
first AFCON title at the Felix Houphouet Boigny stadium.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Referees in the North West region of Cameroon have made their way back to the classroom for a refresher course that is set to last for two days ahead of the start of the league.

Organised by the Referees Appointment Committee, the course kicked off on Wednesday January 24 at the conference hall of Fecafoot North West in Bamenda.

A number of facilitators took part in the exercise including members of the Referees Appointment Committee made up of Retired FIFA referee Nde Christopher, Lum Nde, Jani Benedict, Asang Martin, Tamukong Norman, and Chi Mary.

In addition, all Elite Football referees from the North West region were also amongst the facilitators.

While overseeing proceedings, Interim President Jephter Pase and Secretary General Ndi Tsembom Elvis Junior hailed the initiative as being incredibly important for the ongoing development of referees in the region.

The refresher course is aimed at ensuring the football season in the North West region runs as smoothly as possible, with referees being at the
top of their game and up to date on all changes in the rules and regulations of football.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Thunder they say can strike again in the same place at different times.

This same can be expected when Cameroon’s senior men’s national team trade tackles with their Nigerian counterparts in the Round of 16 of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The knockout stage tie rekindled the rivalry between the two teams that have eight AFCON titles shared between themselves.

Cameroon has won five African titles beating Nigeria three times in those title triumphs.

Nigeria are three-time winners with victories in 1980, 1994, and 2013.

A second-placed finish for both sides in Group A (Nigeria) and Group C (Cameroon) respectively set up a much-awaited knockout schedule for the two neighboring teams.

The match venue, Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan is getting ready to welcome the two teams.

It was on the same turf where both teams battled out the 1984 AFCON final.

On 18th March 1984, Président Félix Houphouët-Boigny declared a public holiday to encourage football fans to troop to the stadium for the fi
nal, as public interest in the competition had waned following the group stage elimination of the Elephants.

Nigeria got in front after 10 minutes when Muda Lawal toe-poked a deflected pull-out past Joseph Antoine-Bell.

The Lions equalised just before half-time, Stephen Keshi unwittingly diverting the ball into his own net from a free-kick, and they seized the game by the throat in the second half, deploying the experience and exposure from playing three matches unbeaten at the 1982 FIFA World Cup finals in Spain. They won 3-1.

A win for Rigobert Song’s side over Jose Peseiro’s unbeaten side will be a repeat of what happened in 1984 at the same venue.

In case Nigeria comes out victorious, the West African side will maintain their unbeaten run at the tournament with two wins and a draw so far.

The winner will make it to the quarter-final with a chance to go far in the competition.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Five-time AFCON winners Cameroon, have arrived in Cote d’Ivoire’s commercial and industrial capital Abidjan, for Saturday’s much-awaited encounter against three-time champions Nigeria.

The team had their last training session in Yamussoukro with a boost as far as injuries are concerned.

The duo of Vincent Aboubakar and Clinton Njie joined the team for group training for the first time since being ruled out of the opening set of games of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

In effect, Nigeria and Cameroon have clashed in 17 competitive matches since their first of such matches in the Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah Cup on 8th December 1962, which Nigeria won 3-1. Of those 17 matches, Cameroon has won only 4 – three of these in the Final matches of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1984, 1988, and 2000.

The only other time Cameroon have beaten Nigeria in a competitive match was on 27th August 1989, when Francois Omam Biyick scored the only goal in Yaounde that eliminated Nigeria from the race to the 1990 FIFA World Cup final
s in Italy.

Nigeria has won nine of the other 13 matches, including a 2-1 defeat of Cameroon in the bronze medal match of the 1992 AFCON; a 2-0 triumph in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Ibadan; a 3-2 win in Yaounde in a 1970 World Cup qualifier; a 2-1 win in Monastir in a 2004 AFCON quarter-final; a 4-0 win in Uyo in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier and; a 3-2 win in Alexandria in a 2019 AFCON Round of 16 clash.

Both sides finished second in their groups to make it to the knockout stage.

Super Eagles finished second from Group A behind Equatorial Guinea with seven points while Cameroon with four points made it out of Group C ahead of Guinea which also qualified as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Source: Cameroon News Agency