The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Cote D’ Voire

  • Garba assures of Golden Eaglets’ victory over Cote d’ Voire

    Manu Garba, coach of the Golden Eaglets on Tuesday assured that his team would beat Cote d’ Voire in the WAFU Zone B qualifiers on Thursday, Sept 6.
    Garba told the News men in a telephone interview that the victory in the second group match was important to keep the hope of qualifying for the U-17 AFCON in Tanzania alive.
    “God’s willing, we shall beat Cote d’ Voire to keep hope alive,” Garba said.
    He said that the team must win the remaining two games having lost the first match to Burkina Faso.
    The Golden Eaglets made an unimpressive start losing 3-2 to Burkina Faso at the Stade Municipal in Niger on Monday.

    Read Also: Manu Garba tips Eaglets for glory

    Within a space of six minutes after kickoff, Abdoul Komi and Jean Fiacre Kouame handed Burkina Faso a two-goal lead as Manu Garba’s boys were made to pay for their poor defending.
    But the Eaglets equalised before half-time break, thanks to Olakunle Olusegun’s brace. Mubarak Compaore scored the winning goal four minutes from full time.
    Nigeria must win their last two games against Cote d’Ivoire and Benin Republic to stand a chance of qualifying for the semi-final.

  • Mark urges senators to fast for Super Eagles

    Mark urges senators to fast for Super Eagles

    The Senate President, David Mark, on Thursday in Abuja appealed to senators to fast for the Super Eagles, if it would ensure their victory over the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire.

    The national team will file out against their Cote d’Ivoire counterparts in Sunday’s quarter-final match of the ongoing 29th Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    “Individually, you can fast if you think it will make them to win,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Mark as saying to the senators on Thursday.

    According to him, national pride is at stake and therefore, the Super Eagles must play their best to ensure victory.

    He told the Deputy Leader of the Senate who, he said, was the contact person between the Senate and the Super Eagles, to inform them that the prayers of all Nigerians were with them.

    “We will pray as hard as we can but they must play as hard as they can because our prayers alone cannot score goals,’’ Mark said.

     

  • Ahmed Musa misses training

    Ahmed Musa misses training

    Super Eagles forward, Ahmed Musa did not train with the rest of the squad on Wednesday because of a running stomach, officials said.

    “Ahmed Musa missed training, but we expect him to rejoin the team fully on Thursday,” a top team official informed MTNFootball.com

    The 19-year-old CSKA Moscow star was widely tipped to take the African Nations Cup by storm, but he has found the going tough in his debut appearance.

    His laboured showings in the competition saw him lose his starting place to Ikechukwu Uche on Tuesday against Ethiopia in Rustenburg.

    Nigeria face Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday night in a titanic quarterfinal at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg with the winners to set up a semi-final clash against the winners between hosts South Africa and Mali.

     

     

  • Cote D’ Voire defeats Togo in AFCON

    Gervinho’s 87th minute strike secured three points for Ivory Coast over Togo in the first Group D game of the on-going Africa Nations Cup in South Africa, futaa.com reports.

    Africa’s footballer of the year Yaya Toure  put star-studded Ivory Coast ahead with just eight minutes into the game, but the first half  ended at 1-1.

    Adebayor was gifted with an early opportunity in the second minute after a poor pass by Kolo Toure, but goalkeeper Barry Copa rescued the situation for the Ivoirians.

    Ivory Coast gradually came alive, and in the 8th minute, Gervinho went past a defender to locate Yaya Toure, whose shot did not miss the target.

    The early lead by Ivory Coast did not affect the Togolese, who took the game to their more illustrious opponent.

    Max Gradel was booked in the 32nd minute after Togo  missed a chance to equalize.

    A minute later, Vincent Bousou was also booked for rough tackle in the centre circle.

    Togo’s persistence paid off when the team got a corner kick and Jonathan Ayite was well positioned to equalize with the last kick of the first half.

    After the break, both sides came out stronger, looking for the winner, but Alaixia Romao was cautioned for a rough tackle on Gervinho.

    Ya Koman almost gave Ivory Coast the lead in the 55th minute, but Togo’s goalkeeper parried away the ball.

    Salomon Kalou  came in for Gradel in the 58th minute to add more bite to the Ivory Coast attack.