factfile for african nations cup group contenders benin
fixtures
all benguela times gmt
jan
mozambique
jan
nigeria
jan
egypt
squad
goalkeepers yoann djidonou libourne fra rachad chitou wikki tourists ngr
valere amoussou mogas
defenders mouftaou adou and junior salomon aspac khaled adenon bastia fra
damien chrysostome denizlispor tur emmanuel imorou gueugnon fra reda
johnson plymouth eng felicien singbo lokomotiv plovdiv bul
midfielders gerard adanhoume soleil jocelyn ahoueya sion sui pascal angan
wydad casablanca mar romuald boco sligo irl djiman koukou evian fra
seidath tchomogo east riffa bhn nouhoum kobena al madina lba mouri
ogunbiyi guingamp fra arnaud seka tonnerre stephane sessegnon psg fra
strikers mohamed aoudou evian fra razak omotoyossi metz fra mickael pote
nice fra
captain
damien chrysostome
coach
michel dussuyer fra
nickname
squirrels
fifa rankings
africa
world
qualifying results
first round
bye
second round
group
angola home away
uganda
niger
third round
group
ghana
sudan
mali
scorers
razak omotoyossi
mohamed aoudou seidath tchomogo
khaled adenon romuald boco jocelyn akoueya stephane sessegnon oumar
tchomogo karim oumarou nig own goal
previous appearances
tournament record
record loss
morocco
football nigeria coach shuaibu amodu
lagos jan afp
the performance of nigeria at the african nations cup will determine
whether shuaibu amodu will be the man to also lead the country to the world cup
in south africa later in the year
nigeria super eagles snatched world cup ticket only on the final day of the
qualifiers pipping tunisia at the post but critics have questioned amodu
tactics and team selection
he qualified the country for the world cup only to be replaced by another
local man adeboye onigbinde at the finals themselves
the nigeria football federation nff have insisted on him for both the nations
cup and thereafter the world cup but it is widely believed that if the eagles
fail to fly in angola he may again suffer the same fate he did in
top government officials are known to have contacted several top european
coaches including the italian roberto mancini formerly of inter milan but now
with manchester city for the country top coaching job
amodu was in charge when the eagles finished third at the edition of the
competition in mali
striker in his playing days with niger tornadoes amodu made his name as
coach with bcc lions of gboko and this is his third time in charge of the
national team
bombs greet thai pm on visit to troubled south
yala thailand jan afp
suspected separatist militants detonated two bombs in thailand muslim majority
south thursday killing one person as prime minister abhisit vejjajiva arrived
for visit officials said
the first blast was just metres yards from where abhisit was due to open
road later in the day in the town of yala and slightly wounded policeman who
was part of the security team for the trip police said
the second also in yala but about two kilometres one and half miles away was
more powerful bomb blast that killed civilian defence volunteer and left
large crater the army said
his body was totally torn apart southern army commander major general wichet
visaijorn told reporters the militants staged this violent attack to draw
attention
police said they were defusing third bomb
british born abhisit who admits he has failed to stem the violence in the south
since he took power in december landed in narathiwat province and was due
to also visit yala and pattani provinces during the one day visit
more than people have died during six year anti government insurgency
across the three provinces led by shadowy mix of islamist and separatist
militants who never publicly state their goals
suthep thaugsuban the deputy prime minister with responsibility for national
security tried to play down the significance of thursday attacks
am not worried at all suthep said it normal since it is visit by the
prime minister they the insurgents have to do something to get headlines to
show that they still have potential
in other violence gunmen on motorcycles wednesday shot dead buddhist man who
ran the local meteorology department in district of pattani police said
year old islamic militant was shot and killed in narathiwat provincial town
wednesday after he clashed with security team that was clearing the area ahead
of abhisit visit
thai authorities have mobilised more than security forces plus eight
helicopters to protect abhisit and senior ministers as they open roads give
gifts to children and visit model village during the trip
it comes just one month after the thai premier visited the region with his
malaysian counterpart to rename bridge between the two countries
tensions have simmered in the south with occasional flare ups since
predominantly buddhist thailand annexed the former malay muslim sultanate in
football nigeria aim for third nations cup trophy
lagos jan afp
even though nigeria have won the african nations cup twice they are regarded as
underachievers considering the huge pool of talent at their disposal
angola will be their th appearance at this tournament where they have
also been beaten finalists four times and finished third on five other
occasions
there are those who want the team to use the nations cup to prepare for the
world cup while some others differ arguing this is the best opportunity for
the eagles to win the competition and make up for their several near misses
over the years the super eagles have been known for their attacking football
the current team are blessed with several top rate strikers like everton striker
yakubu aiyegbeni obafemi martins from wolfsburg osaze odemwingie of locomotiv
moscow and victor obinna who features for malaga on loan from inter milan
however nigeria may well struggle to parade their best team in angola no thanks
to growing list of injuries top scorer in the qualifiers with four goals
ikechukwu uche is ruled out as he is suffering from long term knee injury
while there are doubts over the fitness of martins and everton defender joseph
yobo
the heart of the defence has proved to be the achilles heel of this team
the handlers are yet to find suitable combination in the middle of the back
four yobo has played alongside danny shittu dele adeleye and obinna nwaneri
but there is still no ideal pairing in sight yet
all the same they are expected to go past first round group that includes
defending champions egypt mozambique and west african neighbours benin
this is not an easy group as some would want us believe believe that nigeria
and egypt who are the defending champions and who have something to prove after
they failed to qualify for the world cup will advance from this group said
head of the technical committee of the nigeria football federation taiwo
ogunjobi
it was not easy for us against mozambique in the world cup qualifiers both in
maputo and abuja they have proved they are good side same as benin and as
result we have to be at our best because no team can be taken for granted any
longer
the eagles who open their campaign against egypt on january in benguela may
not be among the top contenders for the championship but often that is what
brings out the best from them
football benin coach michel dussuyer
cotonou jan afp
benin coach michel dussuyer is very much familiar with african football having
also worked in guinea and the ivory coast
the frenchman was appointed manager of the benin national football team in june
at club level he played for nice olympique ales and as cannes he was an
assistant coach at cannes from to
he was appointed guinea national team coach in and in he assisted
compatriot henri michel in the ivory coast he came back to cannes as coach
between and
afghan parliament vote could be delayed mccain
kabul jan afp
visiting us republican senator john mccain said thursday that parliamentary
election in afghanistan due in may could be delayed by up to three months
afghanistan independent electoral commission iec has said the poll will go
ahead on may in accordance with the constitution despite concerns it will
be plagued by corruption and logistical problems
but western diplomats in kabul have said they doubt afghan authorities will be
able to eradicate the problems that turned last august presidential poll into
ballot stuffing farce
nor are they likely to have the necessary funds to hold nationwide ballot
the united nations which has not yet received request for funding has said
it would need to see evidence of significant reform before agreeing to release
money to stage the election
the last parliamentary election was in september and the iec has said the
next poll must be held maximum days before the end of the legislative cycle
which ends on june
mccain speaking to reporters at the end of brief visit to afghanistan said
the authorities are considering delay
know there are discussions part of it is perhaps two or three months delay
in order to get the mechanisms in place said mccain who met with president
hamid karzai during his visit
that is an issue that would be decided by the president and parliament as to
when the elections take place mccain said
karzai was sworn into office for second five year term in november following
controversial election steeped in fraud mostly in his favour and marred by low
voter turnout and taliban violence
football nigeria african nations cup factfile
luanda jan afp
factfile for african nations cup group contenders nigeria
fixtures
benguela unless noted times gmt
jan
egypt
jan
benin
jan
at lubango
mozambique
squad
goalkeepers vincent enyeama hapoel tel aviv isr dele aiyenugba bnei
yehuda isr austin ejide unattached
defenders yusuf mohammed and obinna nwaneri sion sui onyekachi apam
nice fra elderson echiejile rennes fra chidi odiah cska moscow rus taye
taiwo marseille fra joseph yobo everton eng danny shittu bolton eng
midfielders jon mikel obi chelsea eng seyi olofinjana hully eng yusuf
ayila dynamo kiev ukr sani kaita locomotiv moscow rus dickson etuhu
fulham eng kalu uche almeria esp
strikers obafemi martins wolfsburg ger osaze odemwingie locomotiv
moscow rus nwankwo kanu portsmouth eng yakubu aiyegbeni everton eng
obinna nsofor malaga esp chinedu obasi hoffenheim ger
captain
nwankwo kanu
coach
shaibu amodu
nickname
super eagles
fifa rankings
africa
world
qualifying results
first round
bye
second round
group
south africa home away
sierra leone
equatorial guinea
third round
group
mozambique
kenya
tunisia
scorers
obinna nsofor ikechukwu uche
yakubu aiyegbeni obafemi martins osaze odemwingie joseph yobo
michael eneramo obinna nwaneri christian obodo chidi odiah
previous appearances
hosts
best showing
champions
tournament record
record win
south africa
record loss
algeria
football benin battle for recognition again
cotonou jan afp
the squirrels of benin will be featuring at their third nations cup finals to
further underline the steady progress this tiny west african country has made in
recent years
it was not until the nations cup in tunisia that benin debuted in the
nations cup and they ended up not winning any game and scoring just once four
years later the squirrels again qualified for the tournament in ghana where
they again lost all their group games
they qualified for angola after they finished behind group leaders ghana in
the combined world cup nations cup qualifying tournament with points
from six matches
the squirrels parade young team who are very athletic good going forward and
capable of scoring against any team star attractions will be nigeria born
striker razak omotoyossi who features for metz in the french lower league and
the mesmerising stephan sessegnon from paris saint germain
sessegnon for one has been an international since june and featured at
africa cup of nations where benin were eliminated in the group stage
at club level sessegnon has continued to shine with his vision skill and
occasional goals sparking transfer rumours among top english clubs like chelsea
and manchester city
however lack of experience and exposure at major competitions could against
them particularly in tough first round group that has defending champions
egypt and nigeria
benin fa president el hadji anjorin has predicted his team will beat
mozambique in their opening group game against mozambique and thereafter take
their chances against the better fancied egypt and nigeria
when you reach this type of competition it because you ve worked hard
everything now depends on how we prepare it will be easy for us to beat
mozambique so once we have negotiated those three points we can go on to make
sure we go through to the next stage said anjorin
the squirrels have again found themselves in very tough group and except they
upstage either egypt or nigeria they would again be on their home very early
football egypt african nations cup factfile
luanda jan afp
factfile for african nations cup group contenders and defending champions
egypt
fixtures
all benguela times gmt
jan
nigeria
jan
mozambique
jan
benin
squad
goalkeepers essam al hadaru ismailia abdulwahed al sayed zamalek mahmoud
aboul saoud mansoura
defenders wael gomaa sayed moawad and ahmed fathi al ahly mahmoud
fathallah hani saied mohamed abdelsahfei zamalek motassem salem ismailia
ahmed al muhammadi enppi abdulzaher al saqqa eskasheir tur
midfielders ahmed hassan ahly mahmoud shikabala abdelrazek zamalek
abdelaziz tawfik enppi ahmed abdelmalek harras al hodoud hosni abd rabou
al ahly uae hossam ghaly al nasr ksa
strikers emad moteab ahly ahmed raouf enppi sayed hamdi petrojet
mohamed geddo nagy al ittihad mohamed zidan borussia dortmund ger
captain
ahmed hassan
coach
hassan shehata
nickname
pharaohs
fifa rankings
africa
world
qualifying results
first round
bye
second round
group
democratic republic of congo home away
djibouti
malawi
third round
group
zambia
algeria
rwanda
scorers
mohamed aboutraika
emad moteab amr zaki
ahmed hassan hosni abd rabou
ahmed abdelmalek
said riyad dji own goal
previous appearances
hosts hosts
hosts hosts
best showing
champions
tournament record
record wins
ethiopia ethiopia congo gabon
zambia
record losses
ethiopia guinea
football egypt star mohamed zidan
cairo jan afp
egypt striker mohamed zidan is expected to continue from where he left off at
the nations cup in ghana where he helped his country to record sixth
triumph
zidan scored twice and assisted on several more including the championship
winning goal by mohamed aboutrika after he forced the very experienced cameroon
defender rigobert song to make mistake
ghana was the borussia dortmund striker debut appearance at the
tournament after misunderstanding with national team coach hassan shehata
denied him place in the squad at the edition played on home soil
however despite his undeniable skills zidan is often not far away from
trouble he was again overlooked by shehata for two crucial qualifiers after he
stayed away from friendly against guinea in august
all has now been forgiven and the year old has yet another chance to prove
his class as he did at ghana as well as at last year fifa confederations
cup in south africa with some well struck goals
sam nr
football egypt coach hassan shehata
cairo jan afp
hassan shehata was in charge of the pharaohs of egypt for their last two
victories in the african nations cups
he was not popular choice when he replaced fired italian coach marco
tardelli in but has not looked back since then
besides the nations cup triumphs the year old coach led egypt to last year
fifa confederations cup where they shocked world champions italy and
eventual champions brazil needed last gasp penalty to win
however in this game you are only as good as your last result and egypt
failure to qualify for the world cup at the expense of biter regional
rivals algeria must be regarded as blemish in his track record
officials disclosed though that the former international striker who featured
as player for egypt at three nations cups will be given contract extension
till the nations cup
football egypt under pressure after world cup failure
cairo jan afp
angola will be true test of character for six time african champions
egypt who are still be smarting from their failure to qualify for the
world cup
the pharaohs were expected to qualify for the world cup in south africa for the
first time since their last appearance in but were upstaged by bitter
regional rivals algeria in play off after both teams were tied on the same
points and had also scored the same goals as well as let in the same number of
goals after six rounds of matches
losing out narrowly on the world cup ticket to algeria was really very painful
and we have resolved to put that behind us to focus on retaining our nations cup
title in angola said egypt coach hassan shehata who led them to victory at
both the and nations cups
my players were dispirited as result of the shock but have been talking to
them and psyching them up for the tough task in angola
one thing going for the defending champions is that there has been continuity in
the team coach shehata has been in charge since something of rarity in
african football and the bulk of the team still play their football in egypt
however critics also say that this is an ageing team and angola could well
be swansong for experienced campaigners like skipper ahmed hassan goalkeeper
essam el hadary mohamed aboutrika and wael gomaa
skipper hassan is the team most capped player equalling legendary hossam
hassan record cap of
the pharaohs could also do with scoring more goals as they line up several top
strikers like amr zaki ahmed hossam mido and mohamed zidan
the nations cup is favourite hunting ground for egypt meaning they should
progress past group that includes nigeria and mozambique and from there on
anything is possible
can say it an easy group think we will reach the knockout stage along
with nigeria of course egypt are better than benin and mozambique while nigeria
are not at their best but they are likely to accompany us to the next round
predicted top official of the egypt football association hazem al hawari
drone strikes effective part of us strategy mccain
kabul jan afp
the use of drone strikes against suspected islamist militants in pakistan is an
effective part of us strategy and should continue republican senator john
mccain said thursday
his comments came after al qaeda reportedly said an attack on us base in
eastern afghanistan which killed seven cia agents was to avenge drone strikes
that have killed prominent militants
the drone strikes are part of an overall set of tactics which make up the
strategy for victory and they have been very effective mccain told reporters
during brief trip to afghanistan
unmanned predator planes are used to gather information and launch strikes on
taliban and al qaeda operatives in the border regions of afghanistan and
pakistan where the leaders of militant groups are based
drones had knocked al qaeda and other extremist groups off balance and they
have been successful and we are working more closely with the afghan government
as well as the pakistan government to make those operations more efficient and
less damaging to the civilian population mccain said
think it should continue think it an important tool in our overall
strategy and we can claim measurable success in carrying out those operations
us based tracking group site reported that al qaeda said the suicide bombing at
forward operating base chapman near the pakistan border in khost province was
revenge for the deaths of senior militants in us drone strikes
jordanian identified as humam khalil abu mulal al balawi who was said to be
triple agent blew himself up at the base on december in the deadliest attack
against the cia since
football afp african nations cup advisory
paris jan afp
we will shortly begin to file our third series of advancers on the african
nations cup which begins in angola on sunday
our preview includes profiles and factfiles on all qualifiers portraits of
all the major stars plus comprehensive package of background information and
all the breaking news
from friday three days before the curtain raiser in luanda between the hosts
and mali afp will have its experienced team of reporters and photographers in
place
they will be providing in depth coverage of each game up to the january final
as well as reporting on all the excitement and drama surrounding this biennial
event
we will also be supplying full video and graphics service throughout the three
week competition
we will shortly move the following
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