…Nigerian Players Not Among Best X1 and ‘Bad Boys’
By Eniola Olatunji
Emilio Nsue of Equatorial Guinea leads the highest goals scorer list at the ongoing AFCON tournament in Cote D’Ivoire with five goals at the Knockout stages, a record which has equaled the total Goals of Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo at the 2019 edition in Egypt.
Two players scoring 3 goals each are at the heels on Nsue for the Golden Boot, given to highest goal scorer. They are Baghdad Bunedjah of Algeria and Mostafa Mohammed of Egypt. Eight players have 2 goals each on their names.
A total of 89 goals were scored which is an average of 2.47 goals per match before an attendance record of 636,438 fans which is 17,679 per match where 36 matches were played at the group stages.
Three players mourn own goals scored. They are Esteben Orozco of Equatorial Guinea against Guinea Bissau; James Gomez of Gambia against Cameroon and Opa Sangante of Guinea Bissau against Nigeria.
There were three bad boys, a terminology used in football for those who bag red card in football. A straight red was flashed to Ebou Adams of Gambia against Senegal on 15th January; another straight red went to Francois Kamano of Guinea also on 15th January against Gambia while Novatus Dismas of Tanzania got two yellows in a match against Morocco which automatically translates to red card.
Five players bagged two yellows at the group stages and had to be suspended for the next match. They are Abdou Diallo of Senegal who was cautioned against Gambia and Cameroon; Rammy Bensebaini of Algeria was cautioned against Algeria and Burkina Faso; Mohammed Konate of Algeria also was cautioned against Mauritania and Blati Toure his team mate also had two yellow cards; Nurio Fortuna of Angola had cautions against Algeria and Mauritania and Rodrick Kabwa of Zambia had his caution against Tanzania and Morocco.
Right now the eight eliminated teams are Gambia placing 24th having no point scoring 2 goals and conceded 7; Guinea Bissau is 23rd having no point scoring 2 goals and conceded 7 too.
Six teams had 2 points each but sank low. Tanzania is 22nd scoring only a goal and conceding 4; Mozambique is 21st scoring 4 goals and conceding 7; Tunisia placed 20th scoring a goal and conceding 2; Zambia is 19th having 2 goals and allowing 3; Algeria is 18th with 3 goals scored and 4 conceded while Ghana is 17th with 5 goals scored and 6 conceded.
The 8 teams to be eliminated at the Round of 16 stages will occupy 8th to 16th positions based on their scoring.
ROUND OF 16 FIXTURES:
1. Nigeria vs Cameroon at San Pedro stadium at 9pm on Saturday.
2. Angola vs Namibia at Bouake at 6pm on Saturday.
3. Egypt vs DR Congo at San Pedro on Sunday at 9pm.
4. Equatorial Guinea vs Guinea at Outtara at 6pm on Sunday.
5. Cape Verde vs Mauritania at Boigny at 6pm on Monday.
6. Senegal vs Ivory Coast at Yamoussoukro at 9pm on Monday.
7. Morocco vs South Africa at San Pedro at 9pm on Tuesday.
8. Mali vs Burkina Faso at Korhogo at 6pm on Tuesday.
CAF announced the Group Stage Best X1. Goalkeeper Jesus Owono of Equatorial Guinea in goal; the back four are Achraf Hakimi of Morocco, Kalidou Koulibaly of Senegal, Nayef Aguerd of Morocco and Arthur Masuaku of DR Congo from right to left. Midfielders are Azzedine Ounahi of Morocco, Sofyan Amrabat of Morocco and Lamine Camara of Senegal. The Strikers are Gelson Dala of Angola, lead striker Emilio Nsue of Equatorial Guinea and Ismaila Sarr of Senegal.
The Best Group Stage Coach is Aliou Cisse of Senegal.
Some coaches lost their jobs for little performances. Ivory Coast on Wednesday sacked their Head Coach, Jean-Loius Gasset and his assistant Ghis Lain Printant due to insufficient results. Algeria too on Wednesday sacked their Coach Djamel Belmadi after the two times Champions crashed out. The Desert Foxes were caged 1-0 by Mauritania in Bouake on Tuesday.
CAF Appeal Committee overturned Walid BALD HEAD Regragui’s suspension and will no longer pay the $5,000 fine. He will be available on the touchline for the game against South Africa next Tuesday.
African Football Confederation (CAF) has upgraded the prize of the AFCON games as the winner will now cart home $7m or N6.2B; Runners-up will pocket $4m or N3.5B; two Semifinalists will have $2.5m or N2.2B each while four quarterfinalists will receive$1.3m or N1.1B each.
Eniola Olatunji reporting for Patmos Media Line.
#CAF #IvoryCoast2024 #NFF.
