AFCON
Côte D’Ivoire Players Pay Tribute To Morocco Following AFCON Title Win –
The tournament saw an unexpected turn of events as Côte d’Ivoire, once on the brink of elimination, rose from the dead and ultimately secured the AFCON title.
Côte d’Ivoire players paid tribute to Morocco and waved its flag high after clinching the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium last night. The hosts, Côte d’Ivoire, secured a thrilling 2-1 victory over Nigeria in the tournament’s final.
The reason behind this gesture of gratitude lies in the remarkable journey of the Ivorian team throughout the tournament. Despite facing the prospect of a humiliating elimination from the group stage, Côte d’Ivoire found a lifeline thanks to the Moroccan national team.
Morocco’s 1-0 victory over Zambia in the final group match granted Côte d’Ivoire a spot in the round of 16. While the win allowed the Moroccan Atlas Lion to top Group F, it ensured the Ivorians’ qualification to the next round as one of the four third-placed teams.
But the tournament went on to witness a dramatic turn of events in the knockout stages as Côte d’Ivoire, once on the brink of elimination, rose from the dead and ultimately secured the AFCON title.
At the final whistle of the Elephant’s impressive 2-1 win over Nigeria in the AFCON final, the scoreboards in the stadium displayed the Moroccan flag.
The scoreboard also flashed the message “See you in Morocco” in Arabic and English, in anticipation of the next AFCON that is set to be held in Morocco in 2025.
In addition, Ivorian players waved the Moroccan flag as they ran across the stadium to celebrate their victory. Winger Max-Alain Gradel also held the Moroccan flag while receiving his medal during the post-match ceremony.
In expressing such gratitude to Morocco, the Ivorian players appeared to acknowledge what both their fans and critics had rushed to point out after the host nation qualified for the round of 16: The Elephants’ redemption and eventual triumph would not have been possible without Moroccan generosity.
Off the pitch, meanwhile, Ivorian fans were also quick to join their players in expressing their joy and gratitude. Many took to social media to celebrate the victory and extend heartfelt thanks to Morocco. “Thank you, Morocco … Côte d’Ivoire is the champion of Africa,” one Ivorian fan commented on X, formerly Twitter.
Throughout the competition, both Ivorians and Moroccans shared many moments of cultural harmony and joy.
The Ivorian Minister of Tourism honored several Moroccan influencers and vloggers for their efforts in bringing the two countries closer and fostering cultural exchange.
Among those celebrated were Saber Chawni and Zouber who shared a series of videos documenting their adventures in Côte d’Ivoire and sharing Ivorian culture, including the country’s cuisine, music, and dances.
-Morocco World News
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has sacked its Serbian coach, Milutin Sredojević who is popularly known as Micho.
This is coming ahead of Libya’s back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations clashes with Nigeria next month.
Paradoxically, Sports Village Square gathered that the coach’s contract was only recently renewed for six months before the axe fell on the Serbian.
His sack was precipitated by the results obtained in their teo matches of the AFCON qualifiers.
Libya drew 1-1 with Rwanda at home and lost 2-1 away to Benin Republic despite beig a goal up at half time.
The Libyan side, Mediterranean Knights are due to play against the Nigeria Super Eagles in Uyo on 6 October while the return leg holds on 14 October at the 11 July Stadium in Tripoli.
According to information Sports Village Square gathered from Tripoli, the Mediterranean Knights’ coach, Micho led the Libyan national team to win nine matches since taking over in October of last year, he failed to build a strong team due to his poor choices.
He also took a risk with the footballers chosen in the AFCON qualifiers, and the result was shocking to the Libyan sports audience.
According to sources close to the Libyan Football Federation, there is a strong tendency to sign a national coach to lead the Libyan team during the remaining qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe has lashed out at Ghana and some other African countries whose home grounds were recently banned from hosting CAF matches owing to inadequate facilities. He made the remarks in Nairobi, Kenya during a press conference,
After the MatchDay 2 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, CAF ruled Ghana’s Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi as being inadequate to host international matches. Being the only approved ground in the country, Ghana will now look towards either Cote d’Ivoire or Togo for their remaining home matches of the Afcon qualifiers.
Other African countries without approved home grounds are: Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, São Tomé and Burundi.
Motsepe voiced his frustration over the recurring issue of nations being unable to host home games.
“Nothing frustrates me more than a national team or club side having to play home matches outside,” he stated.
He stressed the significance of playing in front of home fans, adding, “You can’t grow football if the national teams or club sides aren’t playing in front of their home fans.”
Motsepe reiterated CAF’s commitment to working with countries to ensure they have at least one suitable stadium to host international fixtures.
“Our conversations in every country are to make sure there is at least one stadium capable of hosting a CAF category C game,” he emphasized.
The on-going CAF AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Coaches Symposium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire has brought together, the last three coaches that handled the Nigeria national football team.
Gernot Rohr, Jose Peseiro and Austin Eguavoen are part of the the elite coaches currently gathered in Abidjan.
Gernot Rohr whose tenure of 5 years and 55 matches is the longest ever by any coach in Nigeria, is currently handling Nigeria’s Africa Cupof Nations and World Cup qualifying rivals, Benin Republic. He was succeeded in the interim by Austin Eguavoen who is currently having another interim stint.
Peseiro left his position after the Africa Cup of Nations
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