AFCON
Guinea Bissau Top Scorer, Zinho Gano Promises To Deal With Cote D’Ivoire In AFCON Opener –
Top scorer for Guinea-Bissau during the Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023 Qualifiers with four goals, Zinho Gano, is hopeful of impressing at the tournament.
The Zulte Waregem striker in Belgium, who is preparing to makes his TotalEnergies CAF AFCON debut intends to keep the momentum.
The “Djurtus” share Group A with hosts Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea – a group Gano believes is possible to make it out of.
Exclusively speaking to CAFOnline ahead of their opener to be played at the majestic Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara in Ebimpe on 13 January, the 30-year-old discusses his country’s chances and personal ambitions for the tournament.
How was the trip from Bissau to Abidjan?
It was long, we are all tired. But the most important thing is that we arrived safely, everything went well and we are happy to be here.
What are your first impressions since your arrival in Cote d’Ivoire?
We arrived Monday evening and we were well received, both at the airport and at the hotel. Everyone is happy to be here. It is now up to us to show something.
How do you describe the atmosphere within your group?
The atmosphere is good, we work hard, we work well and the atmosphere off the field is good. So I hope we continue like this.
What does the CAF AFCON mean to you, personally?
It’s a proud moment to be here. As a player, its a great platform to show what you can do.
You will have the honor of playing the opening match against the organizing country. Does that put a certain pressure on you in the group?
No, no pressure. On the contrary, for us it is an honor to play a match like this. The opening match is something special, there will be maybe at least 60,000 people in the stadium. I am a professional footballer, so it is for this type of match that we practice this profession. I’m really looking forward to playing a match like this.
During these three previous participations, Guinea-Bissau have never managed to get past the group stage. Is your goal for this edition at least to surpass this first stage of the competition?
Of course! We didn’t even win a match. So our first goal is to win a match and then, to manage to get past the first stage. I know its a difficult group with Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria but we will see. In football, anything is possible.
In this group, we have Nigeria who have already won the s CAF AFCON three times, Equatorial Guinea which was semi-finalist in 2015 before reaching the quarter-finals during the previous edition in Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire which, in addition to being the organizing country, has already won the competition twice. What do you make of this?
We know that these are very big countries, but this is an opportunity for us to show that we are there too. We have a good group and we are also here for the fourth time, it shows that we are worth something too.
You were Guinea-Bissau’s top scorer during the qualifiers with four goals. The final phase is a different story. Do you have any personal goals for this CAF AFCON?
Its just about scoring as much as possible for my team and for myself. I hope I score in the opening match against Cote d’Ivoire, that would be great.
Finishing top scorer in the competition, doesn’t the idea cross your mind?
Why not! In football, as they say, anything is possible. For me, that would be wonderful.
What is the main instruction circulating within your team regarding this competition where you represent the hope of an entire nation?
Everyone must believe that anything is possible. Even for this opening match. With opening matches, there are always surprises and why not, with us. We can win like everyone else, even if it’s Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria or Senegal. The match is 11 against 11 and anything is possible.
Do you have a special message to send to the Guinea-Bissau public for this AFCON?
Just being behind us, we need his support. Its up to us to show that we will give everything for them and for ourselves.
-CAF
Cote d’Ivoire head coach Emerse Fae has overhauled his backroom team following the Elephants’ Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023, success earlier this year.
Fae, who took over from Frenchman Jean-Louis Gasset during the tournament in January, has brought in three new faces as he builds towards qualifying for the 2025 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations and 2026 World Cup.
Former Cote d’Ivoire goalkeeper Gerard Gnahouan, 45, joins as goalkeeping coach after working in this role with French Ligue 2 side Sochaux.
Gnahouan, capped 10 times by the Elephants between 2002 and 2011, takes over as goalkeeping coach and will be tasked with getting the best out of first-choice Yahia Fofana.
Moroccan Samir Anba, previously with French club Nice and Morocco’s Under-17s, takes over as fitness coach, while Jeremy Antonio arrives as video analyst after working with Fae at French side Clermont.
“This new composition of the technical staff marks the start of a new era for the Cote d’Ivoire national team, and expectations are high,” said Fae.
Fae kept faith with assistant Guy Demel while former international Alain Gouamene joins as the second assistant coach of the AFCON-winning team.
The 40-year-old led an all-local setup to a surprise African title in March after being promoted from Gasset’s number two following their near exit at the group stage.
The new backroom additions have a huge challenge ahead, with Cote d’Ivoire facing crunch matches in June as they bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
The Elephants top their qualifying group after beating Gambia and Seychelles in the opening two matches in Group F of the qualifiers under caretaker Gasset.
-CAF
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.
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