Sports
Senegal’s FA Rues AFCON Exit
The President of Senegal’s football association, Augustin Senghor, has said that he was baffled by the country’s continuing failure to win a maiden Africa Cup of Nations title.
Senegal were eliminated on penalties by Cameroon on Saturday as they contested their first quarter-final in 11 years.
“It is very difficult to understand why Senegalese football cannot win when you see the generation we had in the past and now,” Senghor told Tidesports source.
“It is a very great equation for us.”
Senegal, the highest-rated side in Africa by world governing body Fifa, had been tipped by many to win this year’s competition in Gabon.
The Teranga Lions’ sole appearance in a Nations Cup final came in 2002 when they were beaten on penalties by Cameroon after the game had ended goalless.
Players such as two-time African Footballer of the Year El Hadji Diouf, playmaker Khalilou Fadiga and the country’s record scorer Henri Camara were all part of the side, which would reach the World Cup quarter-finals later that year.
Saturday night’s match in the eastern city of Franceville was similar to the 2002 final, after also ending goalless, but this time it fell to Africa’s most expensive player – Sadio Mane of Liverpool – to miss the vital spot-kick.
The 24-year-old was inconsolable after Vincent Aboubakar sent four-time champions Cameroon through shortly after.
“Some of the players were crying in the dressing room and we understand that,” Senghor said.
“They were very deeply affected and are suffering very greatly. It was very difficult to find the right words to say to them.
“Mane was one of the players crying and you can understand. It is a kind of curse on the great players that they miss penalties in shoot-outs, and Sadio is the same.
“He was very, very upset.”
Mane’s effort was blocked by Cameroon’s star player, goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa, sparking huge celebrations as the Indomitable Lions reached the last four for the first time since 2008 (when they lost the final to Egypt).
“He is sad but it is only natural,” striker Moussa Sow had said.
“He wanted to do something good and give pleasure to his nation. Sadio is a great player.”
Senegal were looking to reach the semi-finals for the fourth time, having last managed to do so in 2006.
“We were supposed to go further in this competition because the team played very well in the group phase,” said Senghor of the first team to qualify for the knock-out stage.
Sports
CAA Wants Ghana To Host 2026 Athletics Champions
The Confederation of African Athletics has invited Ghana to bid for the hosting rights of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, following a successful athletics event at the just concluded 2023 African Games.
President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, stated this and expressed confidence in the transformative potential of the Legon Stadium for athletes and Ghana’s bid to host international competitions.
With a capacity of 11,000, the Legon Stadium played a pivotal role in the recent African Games, hosting both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as various sporting events including athletics, football, and rugby.
Fuseini highlighted the success of the athletics events held at the stadium, which contributed to Ghana winning six medals.
“We have already started getting requests from the Confederation of African Athletics to bid for the 2026 African Athletics Championships.
“When they came and saw what we have put in place and the level of organisation, they told me that for the last 20 years, they’ve never seen any organisation like this before. We did three official courses. And the last one, we had 110, all of them passed. We had a lot of officials and equipment.”
Since its establishment in 1979, Ghana has never hosted the African Athletics Championships, with Nigeria being the host country twice, in 1989 and 2018.
This year, Cameroon will take the reins as the host nation, with the event set to be held at the Olembe Stadium.
Sports
‘I’m Not Under Pressure To Coach Eagles’
Finidi George, head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football Leagues side, Enyimba, has stated that he is not losing any sleep over getting the Super Eagles job on a permanent basis.
Early this month, the Nigeria Football Federation declared the position of the Super Eagles’ head coach vacant, following the exit of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the side to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February.
In an advertisement on its website calling for applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”
The former Ajax man, who also applied for the job, was appointed Eagles interim coach for the international window with the former winger picking a win and suffering a defeat.
In an interview with Tidesports source, the 52-year-old tactician said he was not desperate for the job permanently.
“I felt really good when I was told to take charge of the team. I have been with the team for almost two years, I know all the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses but I am only here to serve Nigeria the way I know how to do stuff.
“I will just take these two games and go back to my club. Whatever the decision is taken after, so be it. I’m not under pressure to say I must get the role permanently.”
Sports
‘Reasons Why Eagles Lost To Mali’
The friendly games against Ghana and Mali were to serve as an audition for George Finidi, who was in charge of the team on an interim basis, but the Eagles’ lacklustre display in those friendlies has called for his further evaluation.
Finidi kept faith with ex-coach Jose Peseiro’s defensive formation against Mali on the back of his first win (against Ghana) in charge of the team four days earlier.
But this time, his defence was punished following a combination of defensive errors and poor passes.
The Eagles struggled to play out of defence due to the high pressing of the Malians and it was no surprise that the first goal by Les Aigles was a direct result of their aggression.
Chidozie Awaziem, who started on the right of the back three alongside Kenneth Omeruo and Semi Ajayi, lacked composure and was pressured into making a pass across his box straight at Bilal Toure, who made no mistake in getting the ball past Stanley Nwabali. They missed the calming presence of injured William Troost-Ekong.
Vice captain, Kenneth Omeruo, was also culpable of misplaced passes and was beaten for pace when Kamory Doumbia ran past him to seal Mali’s first win in over four decades, firing his shot past a helpless Nwabali, who stood no chance.
Eagles wing backs, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Jamilu Collins also did not do enough to support the team in attack when they had the chance to.
Lack of creativity
Finidi paired Raphael Onyedika and Wilfred Ndidi in a double pivot in midfield. Both players are naturally anchor men and neither is a box-to-box midfielder.
They both do not possess the offensive capability to drive the team’s attack forward, which left the Eagles once again craving for a natural creative midfielder.
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