Sports
Ivorians Lament Lost Opportunity
Côte d’Ivoire, who yet again failed to fulfil their favourite’s tag at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, headed back to Abidjan laden down with disappointment, coach Francois Zahoui said.
The top team on the continent were defeated by Zambia 8-7 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in Sunday’s final to revive memories of their 2006 penalty shoot-out defeat to Egypt in Cairo.
The Elephants had come to the 2012 edition with high hopes of atoning for further failures in 2008 and 2010.
But they headed home trophyless, despite having had an opportunity to claim the title in regulation time only for captain Didier Drogba to send a second half penalty high over the bar.
Zahoui said: “The disappointment is enormous and it’s sadness which is the overwhelming sensation. We are very upset. I was anticipating a difficult game, I knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.
“We didn’t start well but we had occasions like the penalty to kill off the game. Then Zambia began to believe. That’s football.”
Zambia were driven by their desire to honour the national team wiped out in a 1993 plane crash off the Libreville coast, but Zahoui insisted his side too were hungry to win the title for only the second time after 1992.
“The Zambians had a history but we also wanted to win this Cup. We wanted to claim the title because of the difficult situation in the Côte d’Ivoire.”
Asked if this was the end of Didier Drogba’s so-called ‘golden generation’ Zahoui said: “Off the cuff we can’t make a decision like that. The players produced a lot of effort, they gave their all. This generation went close in 2006.
“We’ll have to reflect on what’s happened. We’re going to return to Abidjan and reflect on things. We have to bring in fresh blood but we’ll see about all that with the Federation and take the right decision.”
He insisted there were positives to take home from this Nations Cup, despite Sunday’s defeat.
“When you produce a competition like we did without conceding one goal and score nine goals it’s hard to accept because we had one hand on the Cup. There’s a lot of satisfaction as well for us, the players displayed maturity.”
Chelsea star Salomon Kalou reckoned the Elephants lacked experience in certain areas. “We created chances but luck wasn’t on our side,” he said. “That said, not to concede a goal in the whole competition is some feat. The penalty shoot-out is a lottery.
“As for the veterans we’ll have to see if they want to continue, it’s a personal choice.”
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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