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AFCON 2019: Eagles Draw Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi in Group B
Three-time champions Super Eagles have been drawn to play Guinea and debutants Madagascar and Burundi in a tricky Group B of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The colourful draw ceremony, which took place behind the historical Giza Pyramids, had ex-Ghana captain now CAF Assistant Secretary-General Anthony Baffoe in charge of the event, with other African football greats Ahmed Hassan, Yaya Toure and El Hadji Diouf assisting him.
The tournament takes place from June 21 to July 19.
Nigeria were among the six seeded teams in Pot A following the release of the draw procedures by the Confederation of African Football on Thursday.
The other five seeded teams are Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Cameroon.
Guinea, who picked silver ahead of Nigeria at the 1976 AFCON in Ethiopia, are making their 12th appearance with Nigeria going for their 18th appearance.
Group A has hosts Egypt, DR Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe, while Senegal, Algeria, Kenya and Tanzania are in Group C.
In Group D, Namibia face an uphill task against former champions Morocco, Ivory Coast and South Africa in what is seen as the group of death.
Group E will have Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania and Angola battling, while current champions and five-time winners Cameroon, four-time winners Ghana, Benin and Guinea-Bissau are in Group F.
Edema Fuludu, a winner of the AFCON in 1994, described Group B as an easy pool the Eagles should take advantage of.
“I see no reason why the Eagles shouldn’t come out tops of that group,” Fuludu said.
“They say big names don’t play football anymore but I don’t see the likes of Burundi and Madagascar constituting an obstacle to the Eagles’ chances in Egypt.
“Going by our current FIFA ranking and our achievements in the competition, it’s an easy group for the Eagles.”
Before the draw ceremony, Eagles coach Gernot Rohr was happy to avoid record winners and hosts Egypt.
“We are in the same pot, so we cannot meet Egypt. Because when you play the host country, it’s always very difficult,” Rohr stated in a short video interview posted on the Confederation of African Football’s Twitter handle.
“It becomes more difficult when you have a team like the one you have here in Egypt.”
The last time the Eagles competed at the tournament in 2013, they emerged champions but were absent in the last two editions in 2015 and 2017.
The Eagles first won the AFCON title in 1980 on home soil before Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof, led the country’s golden generation to another triumph in 1994 in Tunisia.
The Punch
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has addressed the circumstances behind the extended delay at Al Abraq International Airport, where the Super Eagles of Nigeria were held hostage for over 15 hours, and attributed the situation to routine air traffic and logistical challenges rather than deliberate foul play.
In a statement on Monday via X, the LFF sought to clarify the events, emphasising that the diversion of the Nigerian team’s flight was not intended as a hostile act.
“We firmly reject any claims that suggest foul play or sabotage in this situation,” the LFF said.
Meanwhile, in the most recent development, Super Eagles players and officials have been reportedly set to depart from Libya.
This was disclosed by a sports enthusiast, identified as Pooja Media, via his X handle on Monday, according to The Punch report.
He wrote, “Super Eagles players and all officials are boarding to fly out of Libya to Nigeria. Thank God.”
Confirming this, a player, Bruno Onyemaechi, wrote, “Me and Libya, I don wash my hands commot. Nothing concerns me and una again. Thank God I’m going back.”
The team, held at an abandoned airport for over 15 hours, has resolved not to play the match, citing safety concerns.
Nigeria Football Federation director of communications, Ademola Olajire, confirmed that the team would fly back home.
“Players have resolved not to play the match any longer as NFF officials are making plans to fly the team back home,” Olajire stated.
Four Israeli soldiers have been killed and more than 60 people injured in a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in central-northern Israel, according to first responders and the Israeli military.
The incident late Sunday local time is one of the bloodiest attacks on Israel since the beginning of the war last October.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, launched by Hezbollah hit an army base adjacent to Binyamina, a town north of Tel Aviv that lies some 40 miles from the Lebanese border.
The four killed soldiers were all 19 years old and in infantry training at the base, the IDF said, adding that eight other soldiers were severely injured.
According to Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service, a total of 61 people were wounded in the attack, with dozens still hospitalized.
The news comes after Hezbollah said Sunday it had fired a swarm of attack drones on an Israeli infantry training camp in Binyamina.
The Lebanon-based militant group said the attack was in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Lebanon Thursday.
Hezbollah said it had targeted the Golani Brigade, an infantry unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that has been deployed in southern Lebanon. The claim of responsibility for the attack came shortly after the militant group released an audio message from its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah calling on its members to “defend your people, your family, your nation, your values and your dignity.”
Earlier on Sunday, the IDF said it had intercepted a Lebanon-launched UAV without specifying where. It was not immediately clear whether this was the same incident that led to the injuries.
Israeli air defence systems tend to be very reliable, but on Sunday, there were no reports of alerts in the Binyamina area at the time of the attack, raising questions of how the drone was able to penetrate so deep into the Israeli territory without being spotted.
Hezbollah said it had fired dozens of rockets toward the northern Israeli towns of Nahariya and Acre to engage Israel’s air defense systems, while simultaneously launching the drone swarm.
“These drones broke through the Israel defense radars without detection and reached its target at the training camp of the elite Golani Brigade in Binyamina,” Hezbollah said.
The IDF’s top spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military would investigate how the drone got through without raising an alarm at the base.
“We will learn from and investigate the incident,” he said in a video statement from the base. “The threat of UAVs is a threat we are dealing with since the beginning of the war. We need an improvement to our defense,” he added.
Source: CNN
The Court of Appeal has upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court, affirming Martins Amaehwule as the rightful Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Recall that the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, had challenged the judgement of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court Abuja, which affirmed Amaehwule’s leadership.
This ruling is a victory for the camp of former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who has been at odds with Governor Fubara.
Governor Fubara has also been ordered to re-present the 2024 budget to the Amaehwule-led House of Assembly.
