Sports
2019 AFCON Kicks Off, Egypt Takes On Zimbabwe
The 32nd African Cup of Nigerians will kick off, today as Egypt seeks to win the title for a record eight times.
Hosts Egypt play Zimbabwe in the first match of the AFCON, the first time the tournament has been held in Europe’s summer.
Egypt were only awarded the competition in January after it was taken away from original hosts Cameroon because of security and preparation concerns.
The Pharaohs have won the competition seven times , but not since 2010, and lost to Cameroon in the 2017 final.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is the best-known player in the Egypt squad.
There are also three other England-based players in their squad – Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny, West Brom defender Ahmed Hegazi and Aston Villa defender Ahmed Elmohamady, who captains the side.
“Salah is now one of the leading three players in the world,” said Elmohamady. “This is a very big and positive thing that will definitely help us in our quest to win the Nations Cup.”
The match will be held at the Cairo International Stadium, which has rarely been used over the last eight years because of security concerns.
This will be the fifth time Egypt have hosted the competition, having won it on three of the previous four occasions, in 1959, 1986 and 2006 and coming third in 1974.
Zimbabwe is playing in the tournament for a fourth time but have never made it past the group phase and finished bottom of their section in 2017, failing to win a game.
Their squad includes Nottingham Forest defender Tendayi Darikwa and Alec Mudimu, who plays for Welsh Premier League side Cefn Druids.
The tournament is usually held in January and February, causing disputes with European clubs who had to release players in the middle of the season. But in July 2017 the Confederation of African Football decided the tournament would be played in June and July this year instead.
It also increased the tournament from 16 to 24 teams, in a similar format to Euro 2016, with the top four third-placed teams from the six groups also going into the last 16.
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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