Football / Sports

Senegal win Africa Cup of Nations for first time in history

The first Africa Cup of Nations to be played in Cameroon since 1972 sees plenty of stars colliding, and the final is going to be epic.

Liverpool stars Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will do battle as they try to lead their respective nations to glory.

A tournament ripe with Premier League players and prospects holds sway over an entire continent for nearly a month with the final coming set to be sensational.

Burkina Faso have been the surprise story of the tournament but Sadio Mane’s Senegal but them in the first semifinal. Hosts Cameroon then lost to Mohamed Salah’s Egypt in the other semi.

There has not been a repeat winner or finalist at AFCON since Egypt won at home in 2006 before claiming the 2008 tournament title in Ghana and the 2010 edition in Angola.

Algeria beat Senegal 1-0 in 2019 to triumph in Egypt and become the seventh nation to win multiple AFCONs, following Democratic Republic of Congo (1968, 1974), Ivory Coast (1992, 2015), Nigeria (1980, 1994, 2013), Ghana (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982), Cameroon (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017), and Egypt (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010).

Below you’ll find the tables, schedules, how to watch Africa Cup of Nations live info, and outright odds for the winner.

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Football / Sports

Salah inspires Pharaohs to AFCON 2022 semi-finals with goal and assist

MO SALAH’s Egypt side are through to the AFCON 2022 semi-finals thanks to a 2-1 win over Morocco in the last eight.

Salah scored and assisted a late goal in extra-time to put his team one win away from this year’s finale in Yaounde.

The Pharaoh’s bid to reclaim AFCON silverware continues as they scrape past Morocco in a tight last-8 affair.

Egyptian supporters feared the worst when Moroccan forward Sofiane Boufal converted a penalty within the first minutes courtesy of Aymen Ashraf’s reckless challenge in the box.

But Egyptian captain Mo Salah put the nation on his shoulders, scored the equalizer with 53 minutes gone on the clock and provided an assist for super sub Trezeguet five minutes into extra time.

What could be fascinating is that Egypt could meet Senegal in the final which would mean Liverpool teammates Mo Salah and Sadio Mane going at it for a trophy.

It wasn’t even up for a debate due to how influential this man was during large periods of the match.

Mighty Mo Salah single handedly picked his team up when they were in the gutter, put them back on level terms and set up Trezeguet to grab the winner.

This is why Egyptian head coach Carlos Queiroz named him captain of the squad and if Jordan Henderson at Liverpool isn’t careful, the Egyptian wizard could take that armband off him too.

Phenomenal performance from Salah this evening and he is now two games away from finally clinching AFCON silverware.

Other than Nigeria with 14, no nation has made it to the semi-final stage more times than Egypt (13) since data was recorded.

And on 7 of those occasions, the Pharaohs have gone on to win the entire tournament.

If they can overcome Cameroon in the last four, Carlos Queiroz’ men will certainly fancy their chances to make it number 8.

So with the Egyptians getting the better of Morocco, they will face hosts and 5x AFCON winners, Cameroon in the semi-final.

Providing there are no last minute altercations, the …

Football / Sports

Nigeria’s deficiencies exposed by Tunisia in stunning AFCON upset

Outfoxed, out-thought, outcoached.

It is hard not to use those words after watching a depleted Tunisia produce a stunning 1-0 upset to knock Nigeria out of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday night in Garoua.

The defeat means Nigeria — who have made more AFCON semifinal appearances than any other country — have failed to make the final four for the first time since 2008, when they were eliminated in the quarterfinal of a 16-team tournament by hosts Ghana.

Shorn of a third of their team, and without their coach, the Carthage Eagles still contrived to put up a fighting performance to peg back the rampaging Nigerians, going toe to toe with the Super Eagles until Youssef Msakni struck in the second half, beating Maduka Okoye from range for the only goal of the game.

Stunned, the Nigerians tried to respond, and coach Augustine Eguavoen threw on the first of four subs, among them Everton’s Alex Iwobi. But the midfielder lasted just five minutes before he was sent off for a dangerous tackle, compromising Nigeria’s chances of advancement and handing Tunisia the win.

It all came down to preparation and tactics.

Despite their excellent form in the group stages where they won three of three, the Super Eagles always looked vulnerable in the middle, where Joseph Aribo’s license to roam meant that Wilfred Ndidi was usually the lone body shielding the back four.

The set up meant that Eguavoen’s men were vulnerable in transitions, despite their speed and trickery out in the wide areas where Moses Simon and Samuel Chukwueze provided danger. It was a loophole that Tunisia exploited to the max.

Nigeria’s wide players were blunted by a double team, especially on Simon, and Ellyes Skhiri dropping into the defense, nullified Nigeria’s press as the Tunisians tried to overload the middle.

It was clear the north Africans had done their homework.

“We know Nigeria are very strong and very fast in the wings,” assistant coach Jalel Kadri said at the post-match press conference. “Today we came up with …

Football / Sports

Nigeria Top Group after win against Guinea Bissau

After making eight changes to the side that beat Sudan to seal their last-16 place, Nigeria took time to warm up.

Umar Sadiq opened the scoring shortly after the break following a cross from striker partner Kelechi Iheanacho.

Captain William Troost-Ekong sealed the win after tapping into an empty net after fine work by Moses Simon.

Three-time champions Nigeria had already topped Group D and knew their round of 16 clash on Sunday would be in Garoua, where they have played all their games so far.

They will have to wait until Thursday night to find out which of the best third-placed sides they face from either Group B, E or F.

Guinea-Bissau, meanwhile, have now gone over seven Nations Cup games without a goal, last scoring in their second match of the 2017 finals when they made their tournament bow.

Super Eagles soar in Garoua

Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen – who has made light of replacing Germany’s Gernot Rohr a month before the tournament – had the luxury of being able to rest players after his side’s fine start to the tournament, retaining only Iheanacho, Troost-Ekong and Wilfred Ndidi.

Defender Semi Ajayi was among those coming into the side and he almost opened the scoring when heading a free-kick over from close range, with Eguavoen holding his head in his hands at the wasted chance.

After Guinea-Bissau’s Maurice Gomis almost spilled an off-target Iheanacho shot into his own net, the Super Eagles finally took the lead when the Leicester City forward laid it on a plate for Almeria forward Sadiq to tap in at the far post.

Guinea-Bissau rallied shortly after when an on-target free-kick from Fali Cande was deflected behind by Troost-Ekong’s arm, with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) overlooking the incident.

But the VAR referee was heavily involved just moments later when Troost-Ekong side-footed into an empty net after Simon’s blistering strike, after a jinking run past three players, crashed back off the underside of the bar to the Watford man.

Kenyan referee Peter Waweru pointed for …

Football / Sports

Ghana can’t overcome red card, sent out of AFCON by Comoros

One moment of madness ended an African power’s chances at the 2021 AFCON.

Andre Ayew’s sliding boot to the face of Comoros keeper Salim Ben Boina went from a yellow card offense to a straight red after Video Assistant Referee review, giving Ghana a huge mountain to climb after just 25 minutes of their group stage finale.

The Black Stars were already down 1-0 when Ayew went charging after Ben Boina’s fumbled rebound only to see Ben Boina collect the ball and his wild kick connect with the keeper’s face.

Comoros, the 132nd ranked team in FIFA’s men’s rankings, still had a fight on its hands against the 10-man Black Stars (No. 52).

Ghana needed a point to reach the knockout rounds and Comoros had lost to Gabon and Morocco. The match reached halftime 1-0 before Comoros’ El Fardou Ben added an assist to his early goal.

That wasn’t it for valiant Ghana, as Richmond Boakye and Alexander Djiku scored, the latter assisted by Arsenal’s Thomas Partey, to level it at 2-2 for the 10-men Black Stars. But Ahmed Mogni, the author of Comoros’ second goal, struck in the 85th minute to send Ghana crashing out of the competition and several teams into the knockout rounds with four points as Comoros’ three is currently the fourth-best third-place point total.…

Football / Sports

Egypt vs. Nigeria result: Super Eagles win 1-0 Against Egypt

The second true heavyweight match of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations saw Nigeria take firm control of Group D with a 1-0 victory over Mohamed Salah and Egypt.

After Monday’s game between Morocco and Ghana saw the Atlas Lions come away with a 1-0 victory, we were treated to another matchup of expected title contenders, and the result showed one side is far more prepared to push for the crown than the other.

Liverpool superstar Salah was entirely locked down, with little to show for his 90-minute effort as Nigeria smothered the Egyptian playmaker. Kelechi Iheanacho’s early goal proved the difference as Nigeria fended off a late Pharoahs push to claim all three points. Both teams are expected to progress from Group D despite today’s result, but Nigeria’s victory sets the Super Eagles up nicely for a better Round of 16 matchup and a deep run deep in the tournament, while Egypt will feel added pressure in its other group stage matches against Guinea-Bissau and Sudan.

See Highlights of the Game Below ;

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Football / News / Sports

500 supporters storm Garoua to cheer Super Eagles to victory

No fewer than 500 members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC) have stormed Garoua, Cameroon to cheer the Super Eagles to victory at the ongoing 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.

The National chairman of NFSC, Samuel Ikpea, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Monday in Garoua, Cameroon ahead of Eagles crunch opener against Egypt Tuesday.

A correspondent of NAN in Garoua who witnessed the flamboyant arrival of some of the members reports that their arrival has brought more zest to the already bubbly Eagles camp.

Ikpea confirmed that despite some of the logistic hitches, the NFSC members were now fully on ground to paint the city green and cheer the Eagles to victory at the competition. He explained that over 250 members had arrived in batches from Nigeria while members on ground in Cameroon have also shifted base to Garoua.

According to him, other chapters of the association from Mali, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire and South Africa were also in town to give maximum support to the Eagles.

” I can tell you that the NFSC is fully on ground in Garoua now, we have about 250 members from Nigeria while others from our chapters in Cameroon, Mali, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa are also here.

“So all together we have about 500 supporters here ready to propel the Super Eagles to victory on Tuesday against Egypt and all through the tournament,” he said.

Ikpea added that the association which was founded 66 years ago will continue to give the Eagles the desired support wherever they play across the world.

He asserted that the structure of the association was unmatched and arguably the best in the world, noting that FIFA had recognized the NFSC as the best behaved in the world.

“Our structure is unmatched and the best in the world and the NFSC have been recognized by FIFA as the best behaved supporters club in the world”, he added.

He called on Nigerians to continue to support the Super Eagles as they begin their conquest for a fourth …