Nigeria national football team Photo: twitter.com/NGSuperEagles
Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations in Garua on Saturday, securing a place among the top 16 teams in the tournament. In the Group D match, Morocco beat Sudan 3: 1 (2: 0). Semjuels Čukvueze was first to reach a ball launched long through the center from Nigeria’s defense 45 minutes into the game.
In the 46th minute, Moses Simon scored 3: 0, but in the 70th minute, Valieldin Hidir played one goal with an 11-meter penalty kick. In the second game of the group, Egypt beat Guinea-Bissau 1: 0 (0: 0). In the 69th minute, Mohamed Salah scored the goal, putting Egypt in the lead. With 82 minutes played, after a good run down the left, Mama Balde went down looking for a penalty after a challenge from the visitors’ right fullback, but the referee waved play on, and later warned him for diving.
After two rounds, Nigeria has six points, Egypt three points and Guinea-Bissau and Sudan one point each. The final tournament features 24 national teams divided into six subgroups of four teams each. The two best teams in each subgroup, as well as the four best third place winners, will enter the elimination tournament.
The African Football Confederation (CAF) has decided that the spread of Covid-19 will limit the number of fans in the stadiums. Housewives in Cameroon will be able to attend up to 80 percent of the stadium’s capacity, while the rest will be attended by no more than 60 percent of the stadium’s capacity.
The African Cup of Nations (African Championship) takes place in Cameroon from 9 January to 6 February. The championship was supposed to take place last summer, but it was postponed to this winter and retained its title of “2021 Africa Cup of Nations.” Algeria won the final tournament in Egypt in 2019, beating Senegal 1: 0 in the title match.
