The Paragon Hub ISSUE 9

JAN - MAR| ISSUE 9 42
SPORT
AFCON 2023
Round Up “Billed as
the Best Ever“
By Marc Pozzo
Many are calling it the best-ever Africa Cup of
Nations. The 34th edition of the biennial soccer
tournament served up more goals, plenty of late
drama, and surprising twists and turns as underdogs
had their day. It finished with a happy ending for host
nation Ivory Coast after its remarkable path to the
final, including near-elimination in the group stage.
The Elephants defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the final on
Sunday 11th February in the 60,000-capacity Alassane
Ouattara Stadium to set off unbridled celebrations
across the country. It affirmed locals’ belief that God
was helping the team according to various reports
doing the rounds .
Few could have imagined Ivory Coast reaching
the final after a humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial
Guinea left it on the brink of elimination. But highly
unlikely results in other groups favored the home
team. Ghana’s late collapse, conceding two goals in
injury time to Mozambique , and a subsequent win for
Morocco over Zambia meant Ivory Coast squeezed
into the knockout round.
It prompted the Ivorian soccer federation, which
had already fired its coach, to look for another, but
it failed to “borrow” the France woman’s team’s
coach for the rest of the tournament. Ivory Coast’s
interim coach Emerse Faé did not allow the clear lack
of confidence from his federation affect him as he
quietly prepared the team for the knockout round.
And so the country’s scarcely believable run began.
Nigeria’s progress was much more straightforward
as Super Eagles coach José Peseiro banked on
defense for success. Nigeria did not concede a goal
in four games straight after an opening 1-1 draw with
Equatorial Guinea, and goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali
was the hero with two saves in the penalty shootout
win over South Africa in the semifinal.
Nigeria star Victor Osimhen, the African player of the
year, only scored one goal. The Napoli forward was
unlucky to have three ruled out over the tournament,
and his inspirational performances helped his team
to the final.
Equatorial Guinea forward Emilio Nsue finished the
tournament as top-scorer with five goals. Nsue is
a 34-year-old right back for a third-division team in
Spain. It wasn’t the only surprise. There was more to
come elsewhere.
Seven-time champion Egypt flopped as it failed
to win a game despite sacrificing a cow. They lost
Mohamed Salah in the first half of the draw with Ghana
with muscle injury. While there was hope he would
return to the competition, it never materialized and
he returned to his club Liverpool for rehabilitation
and never returned with his dream of landing Afcon
delayed yet again .
Defending champion Senegal was knocked out by
Ivory Coast in the round of 16. Five-time winner
Cameroon, four-time champion Ghana, and former
winners Algeria and Tunisia were all been knocked
out before the quarterfinal stage, which had a freshlooking
lineup compared to the last edition.