Sports
2012 National Cup: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire Seek To End Drought
African football powers Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are long overdue a CAF African Cup of Nations title. It has been 30 years since the Black Stars enjoyed the last of four successes in the biennial championship and 20 years since the Elephants lifted the Cup for the only time.
They enter the continental showpiece, set to begin in a week’s time in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, as co-favourites alongside Senegal in a 16-team field. Notable absentees from the 23-day tournament include the likes of Egypt, Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa.
Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic backs Mali, while Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure believes Morocco and Burkina Faso pose a serious threat. Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger pegs the Ivorians as the most likely to win the title, concluding Côte d’Ivoire as “an incredible team and hot favourites”.
“They have a midfield of English Premier League stars Cheik Tiote, Yaya Toure and Gervinho and Cameroon are not there, Egypt are not there and Nigeria are not there,” Wenger said.
We go to each Cup of Nations as super favourites and come back disappointed.
Francois Zahoui, Côte d’Ivoire coach
Many suspected Côte d’Ivoire would win the 2008 edition of the tournament, but despite cruising into the semi-finals, were ultimately denied by Egypt. And, in 2010, the Elephants conceded a late equaliser against Algeria in the quarter-finals, losing after extra time.
“We have got a big problem in Côte d’Ivoire – we do not respect opponents,” coach Francois Zahoui said. “We go to each Cup of Nations as super favourites and come back disappointed.”
Fellow title challengers Ghana finished third when they hosted the competition in 2008, and went on to just miss out on championship silverware in 2010 as they fell to Angola in the final.
While Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan battles to recover from a hamstring injury, team-mate and 2011 African Footballer of the Year bronze medalist Andre Ayew says the time has come for the Black Stars to conquer Africa again.
“I believe we have the confidence to finally lift the trophy. It is not going to be easy, though, because we are going into a tournament and anything can happen,” said the Marseille-based son of Black Stars legend Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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