Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro says Nigeria aims to finish top of group A in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament, ahead of their last group match against Guinea-Bissau on Monday, January 22, 2024.

Nigeria secured three points in the last match vs Ivory Coast, earning them four points and placing them in the second spot in group A.

Peseiro expressed the team’s determination to secure victory in Monday’s match against Guinea-Bissau.

At the post-match interview on Sunday, Peseiro said; “We want to play our last group match with all seriousness. We have accomplished our target against Ivory Coast, and our next plan is to beat Guinea-Bissau.”

“Our focus now is against Guinea-Bissau, and we want to fight for the spot in the group, and to do that, we need to improve on our next match.”

Recognizing Guinea-Bissau as a formidable team with skilled players, Peseiro cautioned against underestimating them and stressed the need for the Super Eagles to demonstrate responsibility and deliver a superior performance on the field.

In the other group game, Ivory Coast will face Equatorial Guinea, with both teams also in the race for automatic qualification in group A.

Lobi Stars’ ambition to return to the continental scene seems to remain alive as the club has held tenaciously to the top spot of the Nigeria Premier League which hit its halfway mark this weekend.

It has been the most competitive season ever as the top position has been held by as many as seven clubs from MatchDay I and the gaps separating the teams are very narrow.

Former champions, Lobi Stars of Makurdi who have led in the past two match days maintained the top spot after a lone-goal win over Plateau United on Sunday evening at the township stadium.

It was Suur Kumaga’s lone strike in the 23^rd minute that cancelled Remo Stars’ momentary lead at the top following an early-minute goal against Abia Warriors at the Ikenne stadium in the 8^th minute.

The win by Lobi Stars takes the team to 36 points with a goal difference while Remo Stars who also won 2-1 at home against Abia Warriors are on 35 points with 10 goal difference.

At the Lekan Salami Stadium, Enyimba recorded the biggest win of the night with a last-minute win over the home side with a 2-1 win.

The massive away win shot the team to the third position on the log with 32 points.

Chijioke Mboama silenced the Ibadan crowd with a 56th-minute penalty but Ademola Kareem restored parity in the 83^rd minute but attempt to go for the winner backfired when the visitors scored in the injury time to leave the scoreline at 2-1.

In the other matches, Gombe United played a 1-1 draw at home with Bayelsa United while Akwa United continued their resurgence with a lone-goal win against Enugu Rangers.

Two goals from Idris Suleiman and Ali Rabiu assured Kano Pillars maximum points against visiting Heartland of Owerri with a 2-1 scoreline.

Niger Tornadoes and Katsina United played a goalless scoreline.

Matches resume for the second stanza this weekend with reverse fixtures of the just concluded week matches.

Meanwhile, two outstanding matches will come up mid-week with Enugu Rangers at home to River United while Heartland will host Kwara United in Owerri.

Former Côte d’Ivoire captain, Didier Drogba says the hosts should put in everything to win the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023.

Drogba who is delighted to see his nation host the rest of Africa wants them to win their third title. 

“The African Cup of Nations is the celebration of Africa football. Of course, I want Côte d’Ivoire to win. 

“We are going to fight, we are at home, we have to show that we cannot only host the competition but also put in a good performance,” said the former Chelsea striker. 

He added “Côte d’Ivoire is faced with its responsibilities, it must perform. All the teams that are here deserve to be here, they have their chances so it is up to us to ensure that we respect them but above all to show that we are able to stand up to these teams.” 

After two games, Côte d’Ivoire have three points and will have to overcome Equatorial Guinea in their final group game to gain automatic qualification. 

“It’s going to be the celebration of African football with a team from Equatorial Guinea which progresses every year. We are happy to have them here, I saw that they won their match, congratulations to them but it will be difficult against us,” he said. 

Drogba finally took the opportunity to send a message to the younger generation who dream of following in his footsteps to take their education serious. 

“You have to dream and give yourself the means to make your dreams come true. You also need to give yourself several options. I think it is very important to have a good academic background, to study well in class, to have a good educational base which will then allow you to be able to respond and take on all the challenges and challenges of life in general”, he concluded.

TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 hosts, The Elephants take on Equatorial Guinea in a must win Group A encounter on Monday, 22 January at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe.

Following their disappointing 1-0 defeat to Nigeria, the hosts must get all three points to secure automatic qualification to the knockout stages of the competition.

Anything less than a victory will result in huge disappointment for the Ivorians who have shown massive support for the host nation in their two fixtures.

Despite being favourites on paper, it will not be smooth sailing for them against a Group A topping side who are high in confidence following their 1-1 opening draw against Nigeria which was followed by an emphatic 4-2 win over Guinea-Bissau.

A point will be enough for Equatorial Guinea to secure a place in the Round of 16 but Juan Micha will most likely want to cause the biggest upset of the ongoing competition by overcoming the Elephants and being the nation to knock them out of the competition they are hosting.

This will be the third meeting between the two sides in the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

Cote d’Ivoire won the first two which was a 3-0 quarter final win in 2012 followed by a 1-0 win in the group stages in Cameroon.

The match will be played simultaneously with the other Group A meeting between Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau scheduled at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan.

Cote d’Ivoire – Equatorial Guinea

Date: 22 January 2024

Location: Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium in Ebimpe

Time: 17h00 GMT

Eagles Vs Wild Dogs: Can Victor emulate Victor?

Nigeria’s clash with Guinea Bissau at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in central Abidjan on Monday evening will be the country’s 100th match in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, siece the country began taking part in 1963. Côte d’Ivoire 2023 is the nation’s 20th appearance in the finals.

Not only will the game against the Wild Dogs be the 100th match, there is also the opportunity to score the country’s 140th goal in the competition, after William Ekong powered home the 139th goal from the spot against the Ivorian Elephants on Thursday.

Striker Victor Ikpeba scored Nigeria’s 70th goal, when he netted the third in Nigeria’s 4-2 defeat of Tunisia in Lagos on 23rd January 2000 – the 22nd finals that Nigeria co-hosted with Ghana.

It is another 70 goals after, and opportunity beckons on another Victor, this time Victor Osimhen, to score Nigeria’s 140th goal by netting against the Wild Dogs. Like Victor Osimhen, Ikpeba was also an African Player of the Year (1997). The Napoli SC forward really needs to add to his tally of just one goal in the Africa Cup of Nations, having played only a cameo role in the Odion Ighalo-dominated 2019 finals in Egypt, and missing the 2021 finals in Cameroon due to injury.

Ighalo himself scored the country’s 130th goal when he netted against Tunisia in a 1-0 win for third place in 2019. He was top scorer of the 2019 finals with five goals.

Of the current squad, captain Ahmed Musa scored Nigeria’s 120th goal of the competition when he poked in Nigeria’s fourth in the 4-1 defeat of Mali in the 2013 semi-final in Durban.

A total of six Nigerian players are in the Hall of Fame of the top scorers of Africa Cup of Nations, with only ‘Goalsfather’ Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) in the double-figure category. He netted 13 goals in four successive tournaments between 1988 and 1994, emerging top scorer in 1992 and 1994.

Playmaker Jay-Jay Okocha scored seven goals in the AFCON, including emerging top scorer at the 2004 finals in Tunisia with four goals. He also scored Nigeria’s milestone 1,000th when he netted against South Africa in Monastir, Tunisia in 2004.

Olusegun Odegbami, Julius Aghahowa and Emmanuel Emenike are the others.

Odegbami, who has a total of six goals, was joint-top scorer in 1978 with three goals, alongside Ghana’s Opoku Afriyie and Uganda’s Philip Omondi. He also was joint top-scorer with Morocco’s Khaled al-Abyad (three goals) as Nigeria triumphed in 1980.

Aghahowa also scored a total of six goals, being joint top scorer with Patrick Mboma and Salomon Olembe of Cameroon in Mali in 2002 with three, having earlier scored another three goals when Nigeria co-hosted with Ghana in 2000.

Emmanuel Emenike was joint-top scorer of the 2013 finals in South Africa, with four goals, including a ferocious free-kick against Cote d’Ivoire in the fabled quarter-final clash in Rustenburg

Al-Nassr forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, has jokingly stated that he still has 10 years of football left to play before retirement.

Ronaldo, who turns 39 next month, is currently playing for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr.

During a press interaction at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, when asked about his retirement plans, Ronaldo initially claimed he would retire “soon” but then humorously suggested that he could remain active in the game of football for another 10 years.

“The moment I finish, I don’t know to be honest… Of course, it will be soon, soon I mean 10 years more. No, I am joking, I don’t know, let’s see,” Ronaldo said.

The Portuguese star has been in impressive form in the Saudi Pro League, currently leading the league’s top scorers with 20 goals this season.

Ronaldo also shared his thoughts about the FIFA Best awards and Ballon d’or awards, saying both have lost credibilty as numbers no longer count in the emergence of the winner.

World number one Novak Djokovic continued his impressive run in the 2024 Australian Open by claiming a straight sets win over Adrian Mannarino in their fourth round clash. The Serb won the match 6-0 6-0 6-3 to progress to the last eight.

Italian star Jannik Sinner continued his amazing run that has seen him drop zero sets at the Australian Open this year. The fourth seed defeated 15th seed Karen Khachanov in straight sets 6-4 7-5 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

Taylor Fritz sent seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas out of the 2024 Australian Open with a win in four sets. The American 12th seed won the match 7-6 5-7 6-3 6-3 to qualify for the last eight.

Fifth seed Andrey Rublev played out a classic with Alex de Minaur to reach the quarterfinals at the Rod Laver Arena. The Russian star won the five set thriller 6-4 6-7 6-7 6-3 6-0 to progress past the Round of 16 stage.

In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff continued to impress with a straight sets win over Magdalena Frech. The fourth seed claimed a 6-1 6-2 win over her Polish opponent to reach the last eight.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka stopped Amanda Anisimova in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals of the 2024 Australian Open. She won the match 6-3 6-2 to secure her place in the last eight.

Ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova was on hand to defeat 16-year-old phenom Mirra Andreeva, ending her tournament at the Round of 16 stage. Krejcikova came from a set down to win 4-6 6-3 6-2 and progress to the quarterfinals.

Unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk booked her place in the quarterfinals in Melbourne after a straight sets win over Maria Timofeeva. Kostyuk claimed a 6-2 6-1 win over her oponent to win the match.