"We were unlucky against Rwanda" - Yobo

  Super Eagles skipper Joseph Yobo has admitted Nigeria were lucky not to lose a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Rwanda Wednesday.

The match-up between Nigeria, ranked 56th in the world by FIFA and Rwanda, who are rated 108, finished scoreless at a packed Stade Regionale de Kigali with the host team guilty of throwing away several chances in a game they dominated.

“We were lucky to escape defeat against Rwanda,” said Yobo, who set a new Nigeria record for international appearances when he won his 87th cap in Kigali.

Yobo was resolute in defence coupled with poor finishing by the Rwandese ensured the spoils were split.

“The only positive from this game was the performance of the players from the domestic league,” added the Fenerbache centre back.

Ejike Uzoenyi from Enugu Rangers, Godfrey Oboabona of Sunshine Stars and Azubuike Egwuekwe from Warri Wolves started this encounter and Kano Pillars midfielder Gabriel Reuben was introduced in the second half as the midfield combination of Joel Obi and Dickson Etuhu failed to get going.

Eagles coach Stephen Keshi also admitted that the poor finishing of the hosts let his team off the hook.

“My consolation is that we did not lose,” said Keshi, who was playing his first competitive game since he was named Nigeria coach in November.

“They had several chances to bury this game but they failed to do so.”

The Eagles were not co-ordinated and their midfield never really got going.

“It was difficult to get the team to play as one because we only had one training session before the game,” disclosed the Eagles coach.

“We will go back and continue to work hard ahead of the return leg match.”

Rwanda were the better team with Tanzania-based midfielder Haruna Niyonzima outstanding.

The second leg match will be played in Abuja on June 17.

Source:Mtnfootball

Zambia fly into top 50, Germany go second

 The CAF Africa Cup of Nations has left its mark on the latest edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, with Zambia, who won their first continental title in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, climbing to 43rd. This is the first time since February 2001 that the side, coached by Herve Renard, have made it into the top 50.

Despite losing on penalties in the decider, Côte d’Ivoire (15th, up 3) remain Africa’s highest-positioned team. Aside from the two finalists, third-placed Mali (44th, up 25) as well as host nations Gabon (45th, up 46) and Equatorial Guinea (110th, up 41) have made considerable ground.

Changes are also to be seen in the top ten, with Germany (2nd, up 1) bumping the Netherlands out of second place to take up position behind Spain, and Portugal (6th, up 1) and Italy (8th, up 1) also making headway. Denmark have moved into the top ten (10th, up 1), pushing Argentina down to 11th.

All of these changes in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking are due to the devaluation of matches from previous years, as no top-ten team has played a match in the last month.

The balance of power between the confederations remains relatively unchanged: UEFA has 27 teams in the top 50 (down 1), CONMEBOL has nine, CAF six, CONCACAF four (up 1), the AFC four and the OFC zero.

The results of 51 international matches have been taken into account in compiling the current edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking, of which 32 took place as part of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations and 19 were friendlies.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be issued on 7 March 2012, one week earlier than originally planned.

source: fifa.com

Keita, Yak to play for Eagles again

Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Stephen Keshi has invited only 11 foreign-based players for the Senior National Team’s 2013 African Nations Cup qualifying engagement with Rwanda in Kigali on February 29.

The roll celebrates the return of power-playing forward Yakubu Ayegbeniand workhorse midfielder Sani Kaita, both of whom have not been internationally employed since the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa.

Kaita earned a red card for retaliation in Nigeria’s second group phase match against Greece in Bloemfontein while Ayegbeni has been overlooked since missing a sitter against the Republic of Korea in Durban that would have qualified the Super Eagles for the Round of 16 at Africa’s first World Cup finals.

There is no place for Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi, who has just returned from a seven-week injury lay-off or on-form Russia-based striker Emmanuel Emenike. 

According to naijafootball247.com, NFF’s Director of Technical, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme said on Thursday that the players are expected in camp on Sunday, February 26, while the Nigeria delegation to Rwanda will fly out of Abuja aboard a chartered flight on Monday, February 27.

Ikpeme also explained that all the 20 home boys who travelled to Liberia will remain in camp in Abuja until Coach Stephen Keshi names his army for the Rwanda match on February 26.

The 11 foreign pros for Rwanda:

Goalkeeper : Vincent Enyeama (Lille/France)
Defenders: Joseph Yobo (Fenerbache/Turkey), Taiye Taiwo (QPR/England)
Midfielders: Dickson Etuhu (Fulham/England), Sani Kaita (Tavriya/Ukraine), Joel Obi (inter Milan/Italy)
Strikers: Ike Uche (Granada/Spain), Osaze Odemwingie,Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Blackburn Rovers/England), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow/Russia)

AFCON: Best of the best in the knock-out stage

 Zambia, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon and Ghana will start likely favourites for the 2012 Caf Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals across central Africa this weekend.

The football feast begins on Saturday with two fixtures in Equatorial Guinea - Zambia and Sudan in the mainland port city of Bata, followed by the co-hosts against Côte d'Ivoire in the island capital Malabo.

Gabon stages both Sunday showdowns with the co-hosts playing Mali in the coastal capital Libreville, before Ghana tackle Tunisia in the south-eastern city of Franceville.

Ghana have won the biennial African football showpiece four times and Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan and Tunisia once, Zambia and Mali were runners-up, Gabon reached the last eight once before and Equatorial Guinea never.

While title co-favourites Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana are still on course for the 12 February final, Morocco and Senegal failed to match expectations that they would go far and were the biggest first-round casualties.

CO-HOSTS REVELLING IN SUCCESS

Equatorial Guinea provided the biggest surprise, defeating Libya and Senegal to secure a knockout place despite changing coaches less than three weeks before the tournament began, and lacking any big-name footballers.

Few pundits or bookmakers gave Sudan much chance either, but the Jediane Falcons have shown gradual improvement with a narrow loss to Côte d'Ivoire followed by a draw with Angola and a victory over Burkina Faso.

Gabon, whose only previous last-eight appearance came 16 years ago, are revelling in the fanatical support of the central African nation, led by President Ali Bongo and the First Lady.

Host nations have won two of the last four Cup of Nations tournaments and another finished third so Gabon going all the way and lifting the trophy is not beyond the bounds of possibility.

FAVOURITES STRUGGLE FOR MOMENTUM

However, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana have done nothing to suggest they cannot deliver a rematch of the 1992 final with the Elephants winning all three group games and the Black Stars two before drawing with Guinea.

Ivorian coach Francois Zahoui has proved the ultimate pragmatist as he seeks to banish memories of recent Cup of Nations failures - stressing that victory is all that matters and if it comes from a last-minute goal, so be it.

Zahoui does things his way, including playing two practice matches against the Equatoguinean club champions during the tournament and fielding a virtual 'B' side in a comfortable win over Angola.

Having scored just once against outclassed Botswana, Ghana were far too good for Mali only to concede a soft goal against Guinea and had to settle for a draw that still left them top of the table.

Zambia want to raise the trophy in honour of the 1993 national squad, most of which was killed in a plane crash off the Gabonese coast, and superstitious French coach Herve Renard wears the same white shirt on match-days.

After doing well to overcome Guinea, Mali were exposed by Ghana and needed a late goal from Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita to edge Botswana, leaving coach and former France star Alain Giresse a concerned man.

Tunisia began impressively by defeating Morocco in a Maghreb derby, snatched a last-minute victory over limited Niger and fell to Gabon, admittedly with a team lacking several rested first choices.

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, the son of a former Gabon captain, will hope to maintain the only goal-a-game record in the tournament and finish top scorer as fellow leaders Moroccan Houcine Kharja and Angolan Manucho are heading home.

The organisers must wish for larger crowds at games not involving the hosts, especially in Malabo and Franceville where even Caf Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure and BBC Footballer of the Year Andre Ayew have failed to woo many fans.

SOURCE: supersport.com