Naby Keita is refusing to give up on the possibility of his country, Guinea making it to the last 16 of the 32nd Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt despite suffering a 1-0 loss to Nigeria on Wednesday, Completesports.com reports.
Keita failed to spark Guinea’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign into life as central defender, Kenneth Omeruo’s goal sent Nigeria into the last 16.
The Liverpool star returned to fitness to make his first start for either club or country since May 1, but could not inspire Guinea who are now in real danger of suffering an early exit from the 2019 AFCON.
Guinea goalkeeper, Ibrahim Kone had been the star performer with two excellent saves from a pair of Alex Iwobi efforts, but his display proved fruitless as Omeruo’s header ended Nigeria’s four-match winless streak against the Syli Nationale.
Keita’s underwhelming return came to an end in the 71st minute when he was replaced by Alhassane Bangoura and Guinea’s resistance was broken moments later courtesy of Omeruo’s glancing header.
The Guinean midfielder has, however, insisted that it is not all over until it is: “It wasn’t our day today (Wednesday) but we did all we could and played to our level best.
“We have to keep our heads high and move to the next match with an aim to win. It is not yet over and we will fight till the end,” Keita summed up.
Guinea must defeat Burundi in their last Group B game at the All Salam Stadium Cairo on Sunday, June 30 to stand a chance of reaching the knockout phase. Nigeria and Burundi will also clash on Sunday at the Alexandria Stadium in the other matchday-3 Group B match. The two games will be played simultaneous from 5pm Nigerian time.
By Oluyemi Ogunseyin
COMMENTS
I thought u said before the match that u are going for broke yesterday,hahahaha u was realy broked by Ndidi,because u dnt make mouth with super eagles,
Ubah I think Ndidi is not given the real evaluation as desired because from last season till date Ndidi is the most consistent NO4 in the world aside Kante and he is even doing better than highly rated Casemiro of RM.
The case would have been different if he happened to be a white man. Oyinbo ehn
Or maybe, if he added goals to his game.
Ndidi should be rested for the next match pls,so he can be fresh for the round-off 16 match;that guy too dey work #Workaholic
My brothers that boy called Ndidi is better than this mentioned names,he is a diesel engine,
Rohr has done well with the SE. The way SE has played so far has been brilliant; good defending, with our defenders now knowing how to defend into d middle of d pitch before opposing teams could initiate attack. I think besides Rohr’s pessimistic comments, which might be due to him trying to manage pressure as he is no longer a young man,he has done really well with the team. But haven said that, I will advice that the coaching crew should look into these two weaknesses of our goal keeper. Akpeyi is a good goal keeper, he needs support n not condemnation. He only needs to stop parrying balls into those dangerous area. If he can’t get a tight grip on balls he should try to parry away from dangerous areas otherwise we soon gonna be punished especially with players like Mane who are really quick with rebounce. Also in trying to calm down things, he seem to over do it n opposing players are beginning to notice it.It will be very painful if he gets caught napping.
So far so good for our super eagles,but that Akpeyi is a calamity.he is not a gud shot stoper i must confess,the guineans noticed that though our players managed to clear those shots but they cnt be that good every day,pls my coachee call for Ezenwa plz,he is far better,up nija up SE
Their coach boosted
The game was won in the midfield as predicted the twin towers are just too much for Keita and is crew.kudos to Ndidi and etebo, rightly said Ndidi and etebo should be against Madagascar.