Completesports.com’s Live Blogging of the AFCON 2021 Round of 16 match between the two-time champions, Elephants of Ivory Coast and seven-time winners, the Pharaohs of Egypt, at the Japoma Satdium, Douala.
Live Blogging: Ivory Coast vs Egypt – AFCON 2021 Round of 16
Nnamdi Ezekute
Nnamdi Ezekute, a sports reporting expert, has risen through the ranks at Complete Communications Limited (CCL) famed for publications like Complete Sports.
Email: [email protected]
X (Formerly Twitter): @Ezekutive
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17 Comments
Ivory Coast, I no wan hear story o…you guys are very capable of dispatching this one-man team.
Go go all the way and win it, teach Eguavouen how to do it players go and express your self was the tactics
Horrible penalty from Bailey and Ivory coast are out of the Nations cup…..
All the west africa team still have a long way to go i didn’t see the reason way ivory coast…could not defeat this Egyptian team it show that it not by gathering players right left and centre but good football culture, policy, and willingness to do the right thing at the right time imagine the same Egyptian team that struggles in group stage here they are playing good and technical football abeg three blows for you guys you gave me the kind of football i wanted thanks.
@Bright so correct sir, our coach played all the tactics in group stage at round of 16 was express your self
I Guess I was right about Egypt progressing… my people take it from me and start clamouring for the players I am pushing for in SE.. I know wettin dey sup.
Go go all the way and win it, teach Eguavouen how to do it players go and express your self was the tactics
Y’all see how Queiroz tweeked his team. OUR OWN local champion thought other teams were fools by playing the same pattern..and Moses Simon thought he was neymar trying to dribble .
@Footballfanatic Moses Simon was way to selfish in that game and he got carried away because of all the praise showed lack of elite play in that game.. was very annoying to watch.
The last free kick we had in that game in the dying minutes, I expected him to play it down for someone to play a vicious shot but man wanted to score a direct free kick…..When had he scored a free kick for the national team. I can’t even remember the last time we scored from a direct free kick. All these are lessons I hope they put to use for the big game in MARCH.
When has he?*** After 3 days I’m still hurt over that game….Reason it hurts is I knw this team had potentials to go all the way but a tactical blunder in a crucial stage and we’re out.
@KING my greetings to you, of course that was Eguavouen tactics go and express yourself.
@BRIGHT, you just summed up what POMPEI brilliantly posited in one of his comments following SE’s ouster. I think others on that line of hought too; and especially one guy who always wrote about the BELGIAN BLUEPRINT.
West African teams tend to over rely on individual brilliance rather than the TECHNICALITIES and TACTICALITIES of the game. Little wonder why EGYPT (always difficult to break down with majorly homebased stars over the years) are leading AFCON and other continental competition winners. CAMEROON too has more AFCON titles.
The leading WEST AFRICANS are GHANA and NIGERIA. Others like SENEGAL, MALI, IVORY COAST churn out incredible players but hardly perform well.
Imagine a little tactical tweak against an ORDINARY TUNISIAN team and we would be in the srcond round by now.
We really need a long term blue print. I am always for good, sound coaches regardless of skin or tribe.
We need tactics. SPAIN, ITALY, BARCA 2006-2015 or so, CHELSEA under TUCHEL and CONTE, GUARDIOLA, MOURINHO (in his prime), GIOVANNI TRAPATONI, DIDIER DESCHAMPS (at the height of his powers), ARIGO SACCHI etc. These were renowned tactical genuises of the game.
Even Hassan Shehata proved it with EGYOT winning 3 consecutive AFCONS!
EGUAVOEN was able to play exhilarating and breathtaking football in less than 2 weeks of training. Why dont NIGERIA give him the job for say 3 years. Give him a SEYI OLOFINJANA or MICHAEL EMENALO (his WC 94 mate) as TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, a consortium of coaches like AMUNIKE, MANU GARBA, NDUBUISI EGBO, VINCENT ENYEAMA or SHOROUNMO (as goalkeeper trainer), KENNEDY BOBOYE. (I would do anything to have SUNDAY OLISEH lead this revolutionary overhaul and long term football philosophy but for his well documented MAN MANAGEMENT flaws). He should be saddled with the following:
1. Qualify SE to QATAR 2023
2. Raise a home based SE squad that will always be available for regional competitions and friendlies. I know any established local jets out, but he will keep updating the squad. WESTERHOFF did it between 1989’till he left. We had the likes of MOSES KPAKOR, EDEMA FULUDU, THOMPSON OLIHA, ABDUL SULE, UCHE OKECHUKWU, BEN IROHA, HERBERT ANIJEKWU, ISAAC SEMITOJE, ALLOY AGU, DAVID NGODIGHA, ILE SHORUONMU, AJIBAXE BABALADE, ABDUL AMINU, BERNABAS IMENGER, FRIDAY ELAHO, TAJUDEEN OYEKANMI, AMIR ANGWE, FINIDI GEORGE, ABUBAKAR BALARABE etc. Most of them were capped while based at home before they turned pro. That hurriedly assembled squad against MEXICO should not haopen again
3. Have a pool of 30-40 FOREIGN BASED to call upon especially to avoid nd be well prepared for situations like we had with the friendlies against TUNISIA and CAMEROON in AUSTRIA!
@Prof;
It will be good if any resemblance of all these names you rolled out are available in our NPFL but sadly they do not exist there any longer. The best talents and quality players from the streets, corners and crannies of Nigeria are shipped out straight from the academies. I was opportuned to be on a twitter space with a stakeholder in Nigerian football and he confirmed it. That’s the reason why most of the dudes from our NPFL end up in the North Africa or some obscure european leagues and before you say jack robbinson they are back in the NPFL or Sudanese league when they can’t cut it abroad.
Egypt is able to draw from a pool of players in their local league simply because the Egyptian players hardly travel abroad to play soccer, why? the league there is higly organised and well funded to attract even players from other countries.
Let us just mute that idea of just thinking we can replicate those days of Odegbami, Finidi, Ekpo, Monday Odiaka without restructuring our league and investing heavily in it.
Shalom
Thanks for your warm and temperate response @GENTLE D. If you read my post all over again, you will NOTICE my caveat on players TURN OVER in our local league. The TRUTH is gopf players abound here. I still go watch our league matches. Even with the shambolic organization . I watched REMO STARS against KANO PILLARS a couple of weeks back.
My view is not the short term but LONG TERM. If a hurriedly assembled team of home based players (at a time the league was on hiatus) could hold their own against a FULL STRENGTH MEXICO, I shudder to imagine what the outcome would’ve been if those PLAYERS (majority) had been playing or training together.
I didnt just reel out names for the sake of it but CONCENTRATED on players WESTERHOFF invited amd kept as a home based team from a certain period of time.
Note..since WESTERHOFF left we never had any coach try to do that until the advent of SALISU YUSUF as HOME-BASED Coach. We all knew how those pool formed part of KESHI’s all conquering team of 2013-2014. Imagine the gain within 2 years (2012-2014).
What am advocating for is a LOBG TERM BLUEPRINT.
GERNOT ROHR for most part of his 5 years plus sojourn SPENT roughly 85%-90% running his businesses. He only came down a week or two before matches to call up players, train, play and return to his hotel business in FRANCE!
EGUAVOEN or any Coach the NFF do decide on going forward MUST and SHOULD stay here monitoring the academies, the league, assist in drawing up developmental programmes for grassroots soccer, build a standing team of local based. I am not talking of HURRIEDLY assembled players we use to play against BENIN REPUBLIC and co. A stable team from a large pool of players. As some move abroad, they are replaced. They may not necessarily play for the main EAGLES immediately, but trust me, they will continue a trend of churning out raw materials for EXPORTS and proper exposure from the CONVEYOR BELT of NIGERIA soccer industry.
I hope my position is a bit clearer to you now
Stay blessed sir.
@Prof. Tamuno Offiali ; brilliant analysis ,kudos you sabi football no be indome generation.
Unfortunately, Amaju Fraud-Pinnick will take a blind eyes to this because it will spoil their black market . Another mechanic like Rohr who can not get dependable goalkeeper in his 6 years in charge , cannot get free kick dedicated player in his 6 years directionless with technical deficiencies that he couldn’t upgrade himself.
Thanks for your commpliments @DE STAR. We can and will get it right if we have the will.
I cannot HONESTLY judge EGUAVOEN as opposed to ROHR based on present circumstances giving that ROHR had 5 years and the jury was UNANIMOUS that he was regressing. EGUAVOEN on the hand had less than 4 training sessions with the complement of his full squad before the first match.
Also I think most followers are not being honest when we say he waswas outthought by the TUNISIAN ASST gaffer.
My take is (and I implore doubters to go watch the match again) even playing with 10 men SE had more scoring chances but FLUFFED their lines. Had UNAR and SIMON put away those chances both created by the much maligned OLAYINKA, we would have been singing a different tune.