Africa Football Discussion || Current Topic: Worldcup qualifiers - CAF.

[Stepstowealth]

Ghana also very dissapointing because they had just lost in the first match against Cape Verde with narrow scores

Ghanaians would have bantered Nigerians if Nigeria had lost their game to Eq Guinea. They ended up loosing their own game against Cape Verde who would have been underrated before the game, but to me played better yesterday in their game than even Ghana who were the expected team to win. The team representing Cape Verde, have many confident players who if they continue can do very well in this competition. Egypt on their side completed the trio of big teams expected to win their first games that did not meet up, that is Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. More pressure will be on the teams to win their second games.

[1714256216]

1714256216

[1714256216]

1714256216

[1714256216]

1714256216

[1714256216]

1714256216

[1714256216]

1714256216

[Majestic-milf]

 For me Nigeria should have won their game against Equatorial Guinea had they been confident. Seriously, I didn't expect much from them but I didn't expect either that the visitors would impose so much dominance to the point that the Super eagles were making mistakes that should have been made by the visitors. Even the goal that Equatorial Guinea got was born out of an Alex Iwobi mistake and I got to ask myself what role he was playing there that they left him for the better part of the game.
 Many people are blaming the draw on the fact that Osimhen lost a lot of chances but I feel it was a collective thing; maybe with this performance, they'd try to do better in their next game. A point is better then nothing, as in the case of Ghana

[QueenVera]

I am very much aware that many people would be disappointed in this season's African cup of Nations competition. The reason why people will be disappointed is because they have forgotten that Africa have their style of play, since some of the players that are coming to this AFCON is based in Europe and have adopted the European method of football it will be difficult for them to adapt in this African cup of Nations. What do I mean in essence, Africa is known for strength and it is that type of football that will prevail in ivory coast. Anyone that goes with skills or any type of foreign play style will not be successful in this years African cup of Nations. This is the reason Nigeria and Ghana which came with many foreign players could not win their first leg. For the case of Nigeria if our coach is not able to fix his midfield he could possibly be eliminated from the group stage. Will actually be a shameful thing to parade a team that has African best player and some other world class players and yet crash out of the group stage.

This is football and anything is possible, well what happened yesterday in the AFCON Tournament was a suprise to every one but let them not forget that change is constant and asides that if a team fails to prepare well for a competition and underestimate their opponents maybe based on previous record or past glory rather then they might end up getting a big shock from the outcome of the game and that's what happened yesterday, the least expected teams came out victorious.

 Well their's no doubt that Africa have it's style of playing football but in football experience matters alot and those teams with players that has played major tournaments across Africa are expected to be more experienced based on the training they undergo, left for me I'll say they didn't come prepared and underestimated their opponents, well this should be an eye opener for them, that they should be more serious and not underestimate any team.

[Docnaster]

Ghana also very dissapointing because they had just lost in the first match against Cape Verde with narrow scores

Ghanaians would have bantered Nigerians if Nigeria had lost their game to Eq Guinea. They ended up loosing their own game against Cape Verde who would have been underrated before the game, but to me played better yesterday in their game than even Ghana who were the expected team to win. The team representing Cape Verde, have many confident players who if they continue can do very well in this competition. Egypt on their side completed the trio of big teams expected to win their first games that did not meet up, that is Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. More pressure will be on the teams to win their second games.

I love the fact that Cape Verde defeated Ghana yesterday to in their CAF African Cup Of Nations opener. The defeat has somehow silent the Ghanaian fans who are very good in throwing banters against at Nigerian fans. After Nigeria played out a draw against Equatorial Guinea, Ghanaian fans were all over different social media platforms laughing at Nigerian fans on how their team couldn't beat Equatorial Guinea despite having a superior quality players in their squad but little did they know that Cape Verde were going to teach them a lesson in their own game.

Another surprising result in the games that was played yesterday was Egypt's draw against Mozambique but what was even more surprising in the game was the fact that Egypt had to come from behind to draw level in the game. Mohammed Elneny needs to leave Arsenal if he truly wants to improve his current performance because from what I saw him display yesterday, it's clear that his lack of playing time at the club is seriously affecting his confidence as a player. He wasn't effective as he used to be in that game and that was why he was substituted. Mohammed Salah scored the equalizer by converting from the spot and register his first goal of the tournament

[gabbie2010]

Ghana also very dissapointing because they had just lost in the first match against Cape Verde with narrow scores

Ghanaians would have bantered Nigerians if Nigeria had lost their game to Eq Guinea. They ended up loosing their own game against Cape Verde who would have been underrated before the game, but to me played better yesterday in their game than even Ghana who were the expected team to win. The team representing Cape Verde, have many confident players who if they continue can do very well in this competition. Egypt on their side completed the trio of big teams expected to win their first games that did not meet up, that is Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. More pressure will be on the teams to win their second games.

From my point of view with matches all the matches played so far by the top teams it obvious that the so-called minnow in football countries had started to up their game it is not business as usual when they are usually thrashed by big countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt etc and from the look of things this edition of AFCON upset would be created where some of the top footballing nations would crash out in the group qualifying stage, Nigeria next match is against a Formidable and host Ivory coast a lost would probably put the team at risk, same with Egypt and Ghana  thus remaining matches of their  respective groups would be very tough.

[GxSTxV]

I honestly didn’t wait for the results of yesterday, the opposite of all my expectations where all expected teams to win they either lost or draw the match. I mentioned in my other post that Cape Verde could possibly win against Ghana and surprise everyone, at the end they really did it and won the match with a score of 2-1 with a goal in the last minutes of the game.
Egypt team also they were the ones to score first but suffered to just draw the game in the last minutes of the game. They managed to score in just 2 minutes of the first half, but quickly received two goals. Continuing the rest of the match trying to draw the score until minute 90+6' with a penalty by Salah. I would say it’s a draw match with a taste of a defeat for Egyptians.
 
Today’s match we have my national team Algeria playing so it’s so important for me to set a bet and watch the game, these are all the matches we will witness today:
Senegal Vs Gambia
Cameroon Vs Guinea
Algeria Vs Angola

To this point I cannot predict anymore, all teams are strong to this point as we witnessed what happened yesterday, betting in African football occasions is very hard compared to other leagues or cups. Tonight, I will only bet on my national team to win.

[onecall123]

Ghana also very dissapointing because they had just lost in the first match against Cape Verde with narrow scores

Ghanaians would have bantered Nigerians if Nigeria had lost their game to Eq Guinea. They ended up loosing their own game against Cape Verde who would have been underrated before the game, but to me played better yesterday in their game than even Ghana who were the expected team to win. The team representing Cape Verde, have many confident players who if they continue can do very well in this competition. Egypt on their side completed the trio of big teams expected to win their first games that did not meet up, that is Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. More pressure will be on the teams to win their second games.

From my point of view with matches all the matches played so far by the top teams it obvious that the so-called minnow in football countries had started to up their game it is not business as usual when they are usually thrashed by big countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt etc and from the look of things this edition of AFCON upset would be created where some of the top footballing nations would crash out in the group qualifying stage, Nigeria next match is against a Formidable and host Ivory coast a lost would probably put the team at risk, same with Egypt and Ghana  thus remaining matches of their  respective groups would be very tough.

Football is always changing, so it's crucial to adapt. That's why top teams might struggle to qualify for the next stage, and smaller football nations could pose a threat. In this tournament, missed opportunities can be costly. It's essential to capitalize on every chance. Teamwork is key; it's not about individual performance. AFCON is becoming more challenging as every team benefits from great players. Football isn't just about individual achievements or scoring goals; it's about creating options in the team and minimizing mistakes.

[adultcrypto]

Ghanaians would have bantered Nigerians if Nigeria had lost their game to Eq Guinea. They ended up loosing their own game against Cape Verde who would have been underrated before the game, but to me played better yesterday in their game than even Ghana who were the expected team to win. The team representing Cape Verde, have many confident players who if they continue can do very well in this competition. Egypt on their side completed the trio of big teams expected to win their first games that did not meet up, that is Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. More pressure will be on the teams to win their second games.

The unwritten rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria is an age long one. I don't know where it started but it has refused to go away and both sides look for opportunities to laugh the other to scorn. The compare virtually everything even their delicacy such a jollof rice  . I guess Nigerians now have the opportunity to taunt their African friends. Twitter (X) did not fail to deliver the trend as it was agog with various skits and memes to capture the situation.

It is actually too early to celebrate because the competition just started. Nigeria is not even sure of qualification as it stands because this competition is full of surprises.

From my point of view with matches all the matches played so far by the top teams it obvious that the so-called minnow in football countries had started to up their game it is not business as usual when they are usually thrashed by big countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt etc and from the look of things this edition of AFCON upset would be created where some of the top footballing nations would crash out in the group qualifying stage, Nigeria next match is against a Formidable and host Ivory coast a lost would probably put the team at risk, same with Egypt and Ghana  thus remaining matches of their  respective groups would be very tough.

This is exactly what is happening. The teams previously seen as small teams are picking up as can be seen in the matches played so far. Apart from Ivory Coast that won their first match and Senegal that are winning, other big teams could not get the result everyone was expecting. With Senegal leading by a goal over Gambia as at half time with the opponent suffering a red card, it could be said that the match is well as over.

[sokani]

Yusuf guy who replaced Wilfred Ndidi did a good job in the midfield while Nwobi wasn't effective as a creative midfielder.

I'm glad you saw this because a friend of mine was arguing that Iwobi did well. The dude was ineffective and was clumsy with the ball, he also contributed to the blunder that led to Equitorial Guinea's goal. I was surprised he played 90 minutes before being substituted.

For why Nigeria played today is a clear indication that Nigeria is not going far in this tournament. They can't win Equatorial Guinea and the worst part is that, Equatorial Guinea was the first to score and Nigeria struggled to scored theirs.

It's too early to write off Nigeria because we got 1 point against Equitorial Guinea. In euro 2016, Portugal managed to make it through the group stage but went on to win the tournament, so calm down bro.

[EarnOnVictor]

Ghana also very dissapointing because they had just lost in the first match against Cape Verde with narrow scores

Ghanaians would have bantered Nigerians if Nigeria had lost their game to Eq Guinea. They ended up loosing their own game against Cape Verde who would have been underrated before the game, but to me played better yesterday in their game than even Ghana who were the expected team to win. The team representing Cape Verde, have many confident players who if they continue can do very well in this competition. Egypt on their side completed the trio of big teams expected to win their first games that did not meet up, that is Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. More pressure will be on the teams to win their second games.

Many might not be so encouraged by what happened with Nigeria against Equatorial Guinea yesterday but the two sides deserve their kudos while the Nigerian team deserves the accolade for dominating and equalizing. The result was what most are looking at, but what about the display on the football pitch? We can't erase that, though the Nigerian team wasted a lot of chances, regardless, it is still better to go away from the pitch with 1-1 than to lose the match. Equatorial Guinea had the advantage if they were better defended but couldn't do it with the proficiency of the Nigerian players, and thanks to the wonderful goal scored by Victor Osimhem, his very first goal in AFCON, and I am sure that more are coming. Yet, I want these guys to be up and doing, they were able to play well and dominated the pitch more, nevertheless, the scoring sense needs to improve, we need to mount pressure before we start facing the likes of Morroco and Egypt with good players with track records.

Besides, I've always respected the Ghanaian team more than the Super Eagles for years, but it is gradually changing with what I saw yesterday. Well, it could be a mistake, but time doesn't lie, the Black Stars still have enough time to prove themselves despite suffering so much in the hands of Cape Verde that were able to score in both halves even at the late time of the match. This should rekindle the anger and seriousness of the Black Stars and I believe that their games would change in the next match. But if it doesn't, it will be so difficult for them in group B with the way others have shown improvements, they are even the least for now, though it doesn't matter yet. As for the Nigerian team, we will continue to move higher. It is not so bad yet in group A as Ivory Coast is the only team leading us. We will also face Ivory Coast on Thursday, it is going to be a tough match and if Nigeria wins, it might be a good decider to hint that the next round is sure.

[Marykeller]

Nigeria still in a 1-1 draw with EQG, upon all of the squad in the Nigerian team they have been finding it difficult to get a second goal after that Victor Osimhen got that equalizing goal for Nigeria, The Nigeria team is allowing Equatorial Guinea to build confidence around the eighteen yard box in this second half.  Only Oshimen has been outstanding in this game.

I don't know why Nigeria players are finding it difficult to play with confidence and come up with a better performance in this second half, and Nigeria team has the quality to win this match but they are not making use of this advantage.

If not for Osimhen that equalized the goal immediately Guinea scored, it means that Nigeria would have being losing the match. They should always clear the ball out of their box anytime that Guinea comes close to the box. From the look of things, this match might end up in a draw because I am not seeing the motivation in Nigeria players to get a second goal.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw after much expectation that it was going to be a win for Nigeria's team. This is how it has always been for the Nigeria team ''leaving the team's survival on a particular player(Osimhen)" after having many qualities players that are supposed to lift the AFCON trophy without much thought.

Anyway, a point is better than none. At least we Nigerians aren't that disappointed with the way the Ghanaians are because they lost their match to Cape Verde(1-2) after many of us had predicted they were going to win. The loss came as a shock to me, even the one of Egypt that played a draw match(2-2) with Mozambique

[Docnaster]

Nigeria still in a 1-1 draw with EQG, upon all of the squad in the Nigerian team they have been finding it difficult to get a second goal after that Victor Osimhen got that equalizing goal for Nigeria, The Nigeria team is allowing Equatorial Guinea to build confidence around the eighteen yard box in this second half.  Only Oshimen has been outstanding in this game.

I don't know why Nigeria players are finding it difficult to play with confidence and come up with a better performance in this second half, and Nigeria team has the quality to win this match but they are not making use of this advantage.

If not for Osimhen that equalized the goal immediately Guinea scored, it means that Nigeria would have being losing the match. They should always clear the ball out of their box anytime that Guinea comes close to the box. From the look of things, this match might end up in a draw because I am not seeing the motivation in Nigeria players to get a second goal.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw after much expectation that it was going to be a win for Nigeria's team. This is how it has always been for the Nigeria team ''leaving the team's survival on a particular player(Osimhen)" after having many qualities players that are supposed to lift the AFCON trophy without much thought.

Anyway, a point is better than none. At least we Nigerians aren't that disappointed with the way the Ghanaians are because they lost their match to Cape Verde(1-2) after many of us had predicted they were going to win. The loss came as a shock to me, even the one of Egypt that played a draw match(2-2) with Mozambique

Considering the number of world class players in the Nigeria Super Eagles squad, drawing their game against Equatorial Guinea yesterday was poor and wasn't expected from them team. I watched the game and can categorically say that that the performance of the Nigeria team was a true reflection of the poor tactical experience and approach of the manager José Peseiro. The Portuguese manager was absolutely clueless of what would've been done to change the result of the game yesterday and that's why I think he's not the best man of the job of coaching the Super Eagles.

I think his mentality was that since he's got one of the most talented squad in the tournament, he'll just pick up players and send them to the pitch while expecting a good result from them. If not for the brilliance of Victor Osimhen yesterday, Nigeria would've lost their opening match of the tournament. The national team coach of Nigeria must improve his tactical approaches to games if he really wants a better result in their next game of the tournament against host nation.

[snipie]

Anyway, a point is better than none.

A point is better than nothing for sure but Nigeria was defeated in my eyes. I mean they were somehow pushing then a goal came from nowhere! A pure defensive mistake that shouldn't happen, the Equatorial Guinea player came behind the defence line and put the ball in the goalie while everyone was watching like that
Even Osimhen goal was very fast after the celebration of their opponent goal and took everyone by surprise. Imagine he didn't score that goal, Nigeria would lose the game? I hope they will recover from that..

At least we Nigerians aren't that disappointed with the way the Ghanaians are because they lost their match to Cape Verde(1-2) after many of us had predicted they were going to win. The loss came as a shock to me, even the one of Egypt that played a draw match(2-2) with Mozambique

Ghana defeat was a bigger surprise than Nigeria draw for sure, even Egypt draw against Mozambique was unexpected.
I call what happened in the previous day as a big waste of points from known teams

[Pokapoka124]

I was expecting the Super Eagles should have get a convincing win against Equatorial Guinea. We lost a match we should have won with at least three goals. I have a issue with the comments of José Peseiro after the game, his response to why they flopped was “God gives, God takes”. That was such an unprofessional comment to make, he should have addressed the mistakes in the game and promise Nigerians that they will do better in the next fixture.

[Abu-Naim]

I was expecting the Super Eagles should have get a convincing win against Equatorial Guinea. We lost a match we should have won with at least three goals. I have a issue with the comments of José Peseiro after the game, his response to why they flopped was ?God gives, God takes?. That was such an unprofessional comment to make, he should have addressed the mistakes in the game and promise Nigerians that they will do better in the next fixture.

The Super Eagle team's performance was very bad and below almost everybody's expectation, I expected them to trash Equatorial Guinea, but as the match started, I see the level of seriousness in Equatorial Guinea's players is far ahead of the level of seriousness in our Super Eagle's players, right from there, I knew that even if we were able to win them, it will be a narrow escape and we didn’t letter win the match.

Our attackers missed so many chances that could have given us advantage over Equatorial Guinea but they have good defenders and a good goal keeper; moreover, their midfield is more stronger and well organized than Nigerian midfielders that’s why they played well and that’s why Nigeria did not win the match.

[Strongkored]

WILL THIS CHANGE GOING FORWARD?
Share your opinions

Could it be because this is held every two years? because the time period is quite short so that the preparation of the host is not given much time, although in fact that is not the reason because this competition has been running for quite a long time so that the selection of the host can be done more selectively and those selected are countries with facilities that are of the best standard, Players are very likely to suffer injuries due to poor field conditions and the player's club will be quite disadvantaged if this happens.

Egypt almost lost to Mozambique if they did not get a penalty and Mohammad Salah managed to make it a goal and a second goal from him brought his country to a point, and then facing Ghana will certainly be more difficult, especially Ghana suffered a defeat to Cape Verde so a fierce match will occur in the Egypt vs Ghana match later.

[Nheer]

Ghanaians would have bantered Nigerians if Nigeria had lost their game to Eq Guinea. They ended up loosing their own game against Cape Verde who would have been underrated before the game, but to me played better yesterday in their game than even Ghana who were the expected team to win. The team representing Cape Verde, have many confident players who if they continue can do very well in this competition. Egypt on their side completed the trio of big teams expected to win their first games that did not meet up, that is Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. More pressure will be on the teams to win their second games.

I am certain they would have bantered Nigerians for the draw because clearly Eq. Guinea is a team Nigeria should have win but they failed to due to not giving their best performance. Ghanians and Nigerians are known for bantering one another on social media and certainly social media would be on fire, full of banters and shades Nigerians would throw to Ghanians for losing their first game.

There would be pressure on both countries to win their next matches if they want to progress to the next round and also to avoid any further banter thrown their way. I am certain both countries would make their way to the next round.

[Majestic-milf]

 Another less than impressive performance from the Indomitable lions of Cameroon as they were held to a draw by Guinea. Let's face it, in this tournament, the teams that many feel will do better are those that would flop the most and so far, amongst the big names in Africa that have played their opening games, it's only the host nation, Ivory coast and Senegal that have taken three points, while the likes of Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt and Algeria were left to take one point.
To be honest I hoped that Cameroon will show their dominance over Guinea yesterday but with the way they played it showed as if they were entering the tournament for the first time, even struggling to take the lead when the visitors were dropped to ten men thanks to a red card given to Kamano in the first half.
 Maybe we are seeing such dismal performance from them as it's their opening leg and they could do better, alongside all the others who weren't able to secure three points, but most times, it's how you start that determines how well you'd succeed.

[letteredhub]

In 2 days the AFCON games start, honestly I'm very worried about my country's national team, with so many weak teams, my country's national team fell into the group of very strong teams, I can't stop thinking that we will be very humiliated on the 14th when we play against Egypt, I start to think that we could concede a lot of goals in the game against Egypt and as if that wasn't bad enough, we will still have to play against Ghana which we will definitely lose, I saw Ghana and egypt the way they play, they are good teams with a good squad. although Ghana when I watched them play, they were having a hard time beating a weak team

I share in your fears as it's clear for all eyes to see from the group but this is football and it comes with loads of surprises which makes the sport never a dulling moment for fans and viewers. You may be shocked that the most favorite teams end up not getting a favourable results which then kills their chances of qualifying to the next round from the group stage while the weaker team as we think them to be turn out to qualify by luck. Just keep your fingers cross while we wait for the events to unfold and just wish your country's team all the best hoping they will deliver the best of their talents.

Football comes with loads of surprises as we all know but not in the case of, Egypt and Ghana not qualifying for the group stage they fall into. I see it in no way, that Cape Verde or Mozambique would qualify ahead of Egypt or Ghana in the Group B stage.

Egypt and Ghana are among the countries that we hope or believe have the chance of becoming the African champions this year, expecting them to be kicked out of the group stage by weak countries is way beyond imagination.
No need to think about the impossible. The Group B-qualified countries are to be Egypt and Ghana. Mozambique and Cape Verde should try their luck again in the next AFCON if only they qualify for it. Till then we hope that they fall into a group that has weak performance as a country.

During the weekend the results of the matches from this group are only but a start of the reflection of my statement before the games started that most of the team's we deem as  favourable teams might not be having favourable results, the result from the game between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea 1:1, Egypt and Mozambique 2:2 before these matches kicked off some us thought the big teams were going to swallow up the underdog's but it rather ended in an unexpected stalemate levels. Meanwhile the most shocking of them all was that game between Ghana vs Cape Verde it was shocking to see what an impressive performance Cape Verde introduced in that game to win by 1:2, and now they are currently topping their group with 3 points while other big teams are just 1 points each. A team least expected now leading the group, I look fort to see more astonishing results as the tournament unfolds.

[Rruchi man]

it's how you start that determines how well you'd succeed.

Starting with a win does not always guarantee a smooth run to the end of the competition. When a team looses at times at the start of a competition, it can force them to sit up and play much better in their other games, or be the downward ride for the team if they don't take the first loose as a sign to buckle their shoes, and play harder.

Another less than impressive performance from the Indomitable lions of Cameroon as they were held to a draw by Guinea.

Cameroon suffered a loss before this game, lost Vincent Aboubakar to injury, and played with a second choice goalkeeper.

There was some unconfirmed rumor about how he was displeased about being kept on the bench for the first game after flying down from Manchester United on the private jet, I don't see that as any big deal because I expected it to happen after all, how can you arrive a few hours to a game by 5:00 o'clock and expect to play. The team does not revolve around you and I don't want to think he's as important as he wants to be treated. I support the coaches decision if this rumor is true, but I fear that it shouldn't lead to a rift between them in the dressing room, It can affect their competition.

Read on X