Nigeria coach Samson Siasia

Samson Siasia has conceded Nigeria’s poor showing in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia could be attributed to their friendly with Argentina.

The Super Eagles needed a late strike from captain Joseph Yobo to salvage a point in a disappointing 2-2 draw in Addis Ababa. The result now leaves them three points behind leaders Guinea with two games to left.

Nigeria had arrived late in Ethiopia after comprehensively beating Argentina 4-1 days before their crucial tie.

“The boys probably took Argentina more seriously and approached Ethiopia with relaxed attitude,” Siasia said.

“This cost us dearly. Admittedly, there were the problems of fatigue, high altitude and other minor things.”

Though Nigeria have agreed to a friendly rematch with Argentina on September 6 in Bangladesh, Siasia maintains qualification to the 2012 Afcon finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in his main objective.

“We paid the price in Ethiopia but we cannot make the same mistake twice, so attention is firmly on a Nations Cup ticket,” the ex Heartland boss told the BBC.

Nigeria next plays Madagascar on September 4 before travelling to the capital of Dhaka to battle Argentina and already the coach has hinted at some changes in his squad to put his charges in the right frame of mind in Antananarivo.

“We plan to travel to Madagascar with players who have the right attitude and mindset towards what is at stake,” he said.

“However we feel the time is right to ring changes in the team and we are going to give opportunities to others too.

“There will be changes to playing personnel, the attitude and mentality would be different and fresh legs will be brought in.”

The former international also commented on their upcoming friendly rematch with the Abesceleste’s after routing a weakened side in Abuja. This time though, according to the NFF, the signed agreement states both sides should field their full strength teams.

‘I am not bothered about Argentina, we can beat them 4-1 again with Messi and others but it counts for nothing if we fail to qualify for the Nations Cup,” insists Siasia.

Nigeria now have to win their two remaining group games (away to Madagascar and at home to leaders Guinea) to seal their place in next year’s finals.

Kolo Toure

Manchester City defender Kolo Toure has apparently always been concerned about putting on weight and took water tablets given to him by his wife to address the issue.

The Ivorian international insists the tablets were green lit by club doctor Jamie Butler, who refuted his claims.

Now a fresh report issued by the Football Association (FA) reads: “The context is that for some years KT (Kolo Toure) has had a problem controlling his weight.

“He has become obsessed with his weight and more particularly the appearance of his belly.

“MT (Toure’s wife Magoo) put the water tablets into a drug dosette. On January 29, he travelled for the fourth round FA Cup match to be played against Notts County.

“He took his supplement including the dosette in a bag branded ‘Herbalife’. KT’s recollection was that he gave that bag (including the dosette) to the club doctor, Dr Butler, in the hotel restaurant early that evening and asked him, ‘…these are the supplements I take. Are they okay?’

“At the time two of the MCFC coaching staff, Attilio Lombardo and Fausto Salsano were close by. KT recalled Dr Butler looking through the bag, lifting out some of the contents and then telling him that ‘everything in the bag is okay’. That was not Dr Butler’s recollection.”

The FA have released a 16-page report giving their reasons for the ban.

Ikechukwu Uche battles Emiliano Insua

Nigeria will play Argentina in a friendly rematch in Dhaka, Bangladesh on September 6, the Nigeria Football Federation has announced.

The Super Eagles recorded a sound 4-1 win over a somewhat weakened Abesceleste last week in Abuja – their first ever win over the South Americans.

“Yes, we can confirm that there will be an international friendly match between the Nigeria senior team and the senior team of Argentina in Bangladesh in September,” said Musa Amadu, general secretary of the NFF, without explaining the curious venue for the match.

“Every document that will make the match a reality has been signed and we are looking forward to a big game. The two teams will go to Bangladesh with their first teams and all their top stars.”

The impressive win over Argentina is however being foiled by allegations of match fixing but then the NFF won’t be swayed from savouring the moment.

The match will be played three days after Nigeria’s crucial 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Madagascar in Antananarivo.

Nigeria coach Samson Siasia

Nigeria coach Samson Siasia is counting his blessings as his team battled to a 2-2 draw away to Ethiopia in a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday.

It took a late strike from captain Joseph Yobo to rescue the Super Eagles having been the first to score through Ikechukwu Uche.

However two goals from from Saladin Seid in each half unsettled the Nigerians who struggled to regain their rhythm.

“We were lucky to get a draw. We didn’t play like we normally do and we paid for it,” Siasia told KickOffNigeria.com.

“Tactically we didn’t do very well, we were very sluggish and did not pass the ball with our normal sharpness. We could have lost and I don’t think we could have argued with that.”

The former Heartland boss however singles out his troops for praise considering theyr did not travel under ideal conditions.

“Sometimes when things are not going your way, it is easy for players to lose their composure. But we kept pushing and the boys showed a lot of character.

“With the way we played in the last few minutes, if the game had gone on for another five minutes, we would have scored the winning goal,” Siasia added.

Nigeria are now on seven points, three behind Group B leaders Guinea who they will host in Abuja in October.

Cameroon vs Senegal

Four people have been confirmed dead in riots following Cameroon’s disappointing barren draw at home to Senegal.

A nasty confrontation ensued between the angered home fans and the stadium’s security apparatus which also saw many others severely injured.

The failure of the Indomitable Lions to win Saturday’s game especially after they were awarded a late penalty which was squandered by captain Samuel Eto’o has dimmed the team’s chances of qualifying for next year’s tournament.

Witnesses said several people were injured in the fracas, and that angry football fans smashed car windscreens and tore T-shirts bearing Eto’o’s name off the backs of people wearing them.

The Inter Milan striker has since asked fans to forgive him.

Hassan Shehata resigns as Egypt coach

Hassan Shehata has resigned as coach of Egypt following their 0-0 draw with South Africa which now makes qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations virtually impossible.

The mastermind of the Pharaohs three consecutive African titles offered to quit after a marathon meeting with the Egyptian FA on Monday to discuss reasons for their abysmal performance in the qualifiers. An offer the EFA graciously accepted.

Shehata was criticized for not infusing enough young talents into his aging team but then was again criticized for doing so at the expense of Ahmed Hassan in Sunday’s draw in front of a packed Cairo International Stadium.

However an under-current in the whole saga suggests the 61-year-old’s departure could be linked to his open support for ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

2012 CAF Nations Cup logo

Afrikansoccer.com takes an in-depth look at the fate and fortunes of teams hoping to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations to be jointly hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. 

Even after loosing their weekend’s away game to Liberia, Cape Verde still managed to hold on to top spot with just one point more than closest rival Mali who failed to capitalise after their own loss away to Zimbabwe.

Group B
		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		Guinea	4	3	1	0	10	3	+7	10
2		Nigeria	4	2	1	1	8	3	+5	7
3		Ethiopia	4	1	1	2	4	10	-6	4
4		Madagascar	4	0	1	3	2	8	-6	1

Guinea’s impressive 4-1 win over Madagascar strengthened their grip on top spot as the chasing party flounder.  Nigeria on the other hand could only manage a 2-2 draw away to Ethiopia.

Group C
		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		Zambia	4	3	0	1	9	1	+8	9
2		Libya	4	2	2	0	5	1	+4	8
3		Mozambique	4	1	1	2	1	5	-4	4
4		Comoros	4	0	1	3	1	9	-8	1

 Zambia took control of the group with a fine 3-0 win over Mozambique as Libya also kept the chase with a hard fought one-all draw away to the Comoros Islands. It seems automatic qualification for this group will straight go down the wire.

Group D
		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		Morocco	4	2	1	1	5	1	+4	7
2		Central Africa…	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2	7
3		Tanzania	4	1	1	2	4	5	-1	4
4		Algeria	4	1	1	2	2	7	-5	4

Morocco’s 4-0 thumping of north African rivals Algeria sends them straight to the top of Group D and deservedly so. The Central African Republic are however keeping close chase as they now trail the Atlas Lions only on goal difference with thier own 2-1 win over Tanzania.

Group E
		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		Senegal	4	3	1	0	12	2	+10	10
2		Congo DR	4	2	1	1	8	6	+2	7
3		Cameroon	4	1	2	1	4	3	+1	5
4		Mauritius	4	0	0	4	2	15	-13	0

 Senegal’s precuious point earned away to Cameroon puts them firnly in the driving seat for the automatic group slot as it leaves their host in a very dicey situation. DR Congo capitalised on Cameroon’s flop with a 2-1 away win over bottom side Mauritius to move second – three points behind Senegal.

Group F
		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		Burkina Faso	3	3	0	0	11	2	+9	9
2		Gambia	2	1	0	1	4	4	+0	3
3		Namibia	3	0	0	3	2	11	-9	0

   

  Burkina Faso seems to be running away with this group’s slot with an impressive 4-1 win away to Namibia but then have played a game more than second-placed Gambia who are on three points.

Group G
		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		South Africa	4	2	2	0	3	0	+3	8
2		Niger	4	2	0	2	4	4	+0	6
3		Sierra Leone	4	1	2	1	3	4	-1	5
4		Egypt	4	0	2	2	1	3	-2	2

Bafana Bafana are in pole position to grab the group’s automatic slot but then their hard-fought draw away to Egypt has plunged the seven-time African champions in dire need of a miracle to qualify for nest year’s finals. Second placed Sierra Leone kept up the pace with a 1-0 win over Niger.

Group H
		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		Côte d’Ivoire	4	4	0	0	12	3	+9	12
2		Burundi	4	1	1	2	5	6	-1	4
3		Benin	4	1	1	2	7	9	-2	4
4		Rwanda	4	1	0	3	4	10	-6	3

With an unassailable 12 points, Cote d”Ivoire have already qualified for the finals. It is now left to Burundi and Benin to amass as much points as possible to qualify as one of the second best placed teams. Qualification for Rwanda is very much unlikely at this point.

It is definitely a straight fight  between Ghana and Sudan for the automatic spot. However with the impressive number of points build-up of the two teams, it is very likely both will qualiofy for next year’s finals.

Group J
		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		Uganda	4	3	1	0	6	0	+6	10
2		Angola	4	2	0	2	3	5	-2	6
3		Kenya	4	1	1	2	2	3	-1	4
4		Guinea-Bissau	4	1	0	3	1	4	-3	3

Uganda appears to be tearing away from the park aftter their 2-1 win over Guinea-Bissau but Angola is making a late surge for the automatic slot with a lone victory over Kenya. Ginuea-Bissau are still inwith a shout.

With Botswana already clinching top spot, the race for the other slot is now down to two teams; Tunisia and Malawi. Both are on ten points with only goal difference seperating the two. Togo and Chad are completely out of the running.

Bafana Bafana battles Egypt to a gruelling draw

A 0-0 draw with South Africa on Sunday now means Egypt’s dream of a fourth consecutive continental crown is now completely out of their hands

.

The Pharaohs failed to make home advantage count on the night they needed the win most and are now deeply rooted at the foot of 2012 Afcon qualifying Group G with just two-points from four games.

In sharp contrast, the result now places Bafana Bafana on the brink of an automatic qualification having amassed eight points, two more than closest rival Niger and a further three points off third placed Sierra Leone.

In theory Egypt can still qualify for the AFCON finals as one of two best runners-up, but it is highly unlikely considering they can only possibly amass seven points and might not be good enough when compared to other gtroups.

Gervinho in action for Lille

Arsenal will have to spend €17m to fend off interests in their quest to sign Lille forward Gervinho.

The Ivorian international’s prospects in helping Lille to secure the French league title has alerted several of Europe’s elite clubs who are all reportedly interested in snapping him up.

One of such clubs, Liverpool have reportedly tabled 12.5 million euros offer which falls short of Lille’s asking price of 17m to sell off their star player.

Reports in the English press suggests Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has been impressed by Gervinho and will offer him the chance to play in the coveted Champions League after the striker declared that he would favor a club which will be a contender in Europe when making his choice.

Gervinho is expected to decide whether to stay with the new Ligue 1 champions next season or join one of the teams racing to sign him after the Ivory Coast’s African Nations Cup qualifier against Benin on Sunday.

Eto'o wants positive attitude for remaining games

Samuel Eto’o has taken full responsibility for Cameroon’s inability to win their 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at home to Senegal on Saturday.

The Inter Milan striker was presented with a golden opportunity to snatch the much-needed three points when the Indomitable Lions were awarded a late penalty but the captain could only find the cross bar to the dismay of a packed Yaounde crowd.

The draw now leaves the four-time African champions in a very dicey situation as they lie third in Group E with just five points from four games.

“I accept responsibility for this defeat. When I score goals often, you hoist me to the top, but today I missed the penalty which would have given us victory and I take full responsibility for this underperformance. I want to protect the group of young players who played today,” a gutted Eto’o said.

“This is the only penalty that I missed this season. But I take everything. I know that the Cameroonian public wants us to win to make them happy. But I missed the penalty and I ask forgiveness.”

However, the three-time African player of the year believes his team has what it takes to turn it around by adopting a positive attitude for the remaining two games.

“Today’s game is a new beginning for our national team. Because we wet the shirt but we lost and that’s football. I believe that despite this unfortunate draw at home, we remain positive. We can win in Lubumbashi, in the next game against DR Congo. For today, we played well but we could not win.”