AFCON
How I Caged the Super Eagles, Says Baxter
Bafana Bafana’s coach is still enjoying the status of ‘man-of-the-moment’ following his spectacular plot that broke the jinx that had afflicted South Africa in previous encounters with Super Eagles.
Coincidentally, he was the handler of the team when Bafana Bafana beat Nigeria in a Mandela Challenge contest 14 years ago at Ellis Park, in Johannesburg. He told Times Live in South Africa that he had never received as much text messages in his life as he did after his team beat Nigeria last Saturday.
This is reverse to what he experienced when he was fired in his first spell after he failed to qualify South Africa to Egypt 2006 Africa Cup of Nations.
He said even though he had just four days of camping as against the three weeks the Super Eagles had, he had to resort to intelligent gathering and consultations with relevant people who could help out.
He contracted Manchester United scouts to gather credible intelligent reports on the Super Eagles as they trained and played two friendly matches in France.
Baxter had ticked just about every box in his preparations since being appointed just over a month ago.
He selected a strong‚ well thought-out squad. He called Thulani Serero to explain the marginalised Ajax Amsterdam player’s omission.
He called Hunt for advice on his squad. Hear what he told the South African media: “We’ve had injury scares left‚ right and centre. We had to back off one of the trainings (on arrival in Uyo on Thursday) because the trip was too long and arduous.
“And I don’t know if it took us a bit of time to get into our stride‚ or if you just expect a storm in the first 20 minutes – I don’t know if it was us or Nigeria.
“But it just felt that after about 20 minutes the crowd went down‚ Nigeria started making mistakes‚ and we opened the pitch better. And once we started opening the pitch‚ then we started getting our players on the ball‚ doing things on the ball.
“Once the defending led to attacking play‚ I thought we dominated the game. We hit the post twice.
“The other reason I’m delighted is that you know that if you have a disappointing result‚ then straight away people are saying‚ ‘Ah well‚ you see. He’s good at club level but he’s failing again. So absolutely delighted.”
After commanding victories in the first leg matches of the Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025, qualifiers, Chad, Liberia, and Eswatini find themselves in advantageous positions as they gear up for the return fixtures scheduled for Tuesday.
As the second leg of the preliminary fixtures approach, all eyes will be on these teams as they vie for their coveted spots in the group phase of the qualifiers, with the hopes of making their mark on the continental stage.
Chad emerged victorious with a narrow 1-0 win over Mauritius, joining Liberia and Eswatini in the lead after their impressive triumphs earlier last week.
Liberia secured a 2-0 victory against Djibouti, while Eswatini displayed their dominance with a 3-0 win over Somalia.
The second leg promises to be fiercely contested, particularly for Chad, who will face a challenging encounter against Mauritius on the latter’s home turf.
Coach Kevin Nicaise’s players are keen to defend their slender lead and secure their spot in the next phase of the qualifiers but the trainer admits they have an arduous task.
“We are far from perfect, far from being a top team in the world. We are in the construction phase. There are still things to work on and improve,” coach Nicaise said after their first-leg win.
“It is not overnight that we will be a top team in the world, we are aware of that, however we are working hard with the group and the staff to achieve this goal.”
Meanwhile, Liberia will host Djibouti, aiming to build on their first-leg success and seal their progression to the next round.
Eswatini will host Somalia with confidence, seeking to maintain their winning momentum and secure passage to the next stage of the tournament.
South Sudan and Sao Tome and Principe will also face off in what is expected to be a closely contested encounter, following their goalless draw in the first leg.
With both teams eager for victory, the match promises to be a thrilling battle for supremacy.
-CAF
Liberia and Eswatini took commanding leads in their respective Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025, preliminary round ties after claiming impressive away victories on Wednesday.
Liberia captain Murphy Dorley scored one of two first-half goals as the Lone Stars defeated hosts Djibouti 2-0 in the opening leg in Marrakech.
Mohammed Sangare broke the deadlock from the penalty spot on 23 minutes before Dorley coolly slotted home Sebastian Teclar’s cross 12 minutes later.
Djibouti struggled to lay a glove on their more illustrious opponents as the Lone Star side kept them at bay to take two away goals into next week’s second leg in Monrovia.
Eswatini were also celebrating after demolishing Somalia 3-0 in the Moroccoan city of El Jadida to put one foot in the group stage qualifiers.
Striker Sabelo Ndzinisa was the hero, netting twice either side of Felicio Figuareido’s 40th minute opener for the visitors.
Somalia now face an uphill battle to qualify when they travel to the Mbombela Stadium in the South African city of Nelspruit for the return on March 26th.
The opening leg victories give Liberia and Eswatini a huge advantage heading into the second legs as they target a place in the group stage on the road to next year’s finals in Morocco.
Back from the locker room, Somalia still couldn’t play its game.
Worse, Eswatini widened the gap with Ginindza who scored his double of the evening in the 56th minute. 3-0, the score remained unchanged on the scoreboard until the final whistle.
Victory for Eswatini which will still have to perform in the return leg to ensure its qualification for the qualifiers.
Following last month’s grand closing to the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations held in Cote d’Ivoire where the hosts were crowned champions for the third time, Africa’s biggest competition is now shifting its focus to the 35th edition set to be held in Morocco next year.
A total of 52 Nations will be engaged to compete for a place in the 24-nation competition.
To mark the start of the qualifiers following the draw that was held in Cairo on 20 February 2024, eight lowest ranked nations will compete in the Preliminary Qualifiers starting on Wednesday, 20 March over a two-legged format that will decide the four nations that will join the other 44 African nations to make up the group stages of the qualifiers.
The CAF AFCON Morocco 2025 journey officially gets underway on Wednesday, 20 March with two fixtures as Somalia plays host to Eswatini, while Djibouti faces Liberia.
Two days later, Chad locks horns with Mauritius before Sao Tome and Principe takes on South Sudan.
The return legs will conclude on Tuesday, 26 March with all matches set to take place on the day to officially decide the preliminary phase of the competition.
AFCON Morocco 2025 Preliminary Qualifiers:
First Leg Fixtures:
Wednesday, 20 March
- 18:00 GMT | Somalia – Eswatini
- 22:00 GMT | Djibouti – Liberia
Friday, 22 March
- 18:00 GMT | Chad – Mauritius
- 19:00 GMT | Sao Tome and Principe – South Sudan
Return Leg Fixtures:
Tuesday, 26 March
- 13:00 GMT | Eswatini – Somalia
- 16:00 GMT | Liberia – Djibouti
- 17:00 GMT | South Sudan – Sao Tome and Principe
- 15:00 GMT | Mauritius – Chad
Confederation Cup runs into crisis as Moroccan players of RS Berkane are stranded at Algerian airport following seizure of jerseys and equipment
Man Utd facing huge challenge in FA Cup semi-final, says Ten Hag
New dawn expected as Nigeria sports ministry partners with Yanga Games
SUPER EAGLES TO FACE ENGLAND IN PRE-WORLD CUP FRIENDLY
Apart from Okwaraji, Nigeria’s Other Field-Related Obituaries
Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
-
Athletics1 week agoA clash of two citizens as Tobi Amusan and Ofili compete in US tourney today
-
World Cup1 week agoFloored twice in two months, South Africa tremble ahead of treble with Nigeria
-
UEFA Champions League1 week agoAdemola Lookman’s Atalanta humiliate Liverpool at home
-
FUTSAL6 days agoDefending Champions, Morocco thrash Ghana to move to the summit of Group A
-
Olympics5 days agoSuper Falcons’ Paris 2024 fixtures recall Nigeria’s first matches at Olympic Games football event 56 years ago
-
Nigerian Football3 days agoRemo Stars add fuel to the fire as title chase turns East – West battle
-
Premier League1 week agoPremier League to introduce semi-automated offside technology next season
-
Olympics1 week agoSuper Falcons will sharpen their attack before Olympics, says Waldrum