Eagles win opening tie
Jan 23, 2006
Nigeria left back Taye Taiwo scored with a stunning free kick in the 85th minute to give the Super Eagles a 1-0 win over Ghana in their opening African Nations Cup match yesterday.
Nigeria 1 Ghana 0
Today
6.15pm
Ivory Coast v Libya
9.00pm
Egypt v Morocco
Nigeria left back Taye Taiwo scored with a stunning free kick in the 85th minute to give the Super Eagles a 1-0 win over Ghana in their opening African Nations Cup match yesterday.
Taiwo, who was close with a similar effort in the first half of the Group D match, blasted a left-foot effort into the bottom corner from around 30 metres just as the game appeared to be petering out into a draw.
Both teams hit the post in an even and entertaining match in which Ghana became the third of the continent’s five World Cup finalists to lose their first game, alongside Togo and Angola.
Captain Jay-Jay Okocha missed the game. Okocha, 32, had been in doubt after a thigh injury . He picked up his injury in a training camp in Portugal.
* Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel may think the favourite’s tag for the African Nations Cup title has been given to his ‘Elephants’ to turn the pressure on, but they must produce a convincing performance against the ‘Greens’ of Libya today.
“Those who are saying that we are favourites are just playing mind games. They are trying to turn the pressure cooker up. But we will not fall into that trap,†Michel said.
The 58-year-old Frenchman expressed his satisfaction at their 1-0 win over one of his former sides Morocco in the opener but they were fortunate to take the points against a side that had the majority of the chances.
With striker Aruna Dindane absent because of the death of his five-month-old daughter — and far from certain to return —and leading scorer Didier Drogba struggling with a knee injury it has been far from the most fortunate starts to the tournament.
Indeed apart from the food, “Tito†Drogba — who scored the penalty in the Morocco match that gave him 18 goals in 25 internationals — has complained of the knee, the state of the pitch and fatigue, hardly the best mental state to lead the line in Africa’s football showpiece.
Today
6.15pm
Ivory Coast v Libya
9.00pm
Egypt v Morocco
Nigeria left back Taye Taiwo scored with a stunning free kick in the 85th minute to give the Super Eagles a 1-0 win over Ghana in their opening African Nations Cup match yesterday.
Taiwo, who was close with a similar effort in the first half of the Group D match, blasted a left-foot effort into the bottom corner from around 30 metres just as the game appeared to be petering out into a draw.
Both teams hit the post in an even and entertaining match in which Ghana became the third of the continent’s five World Cup finalists to lose their first game, alongside Togo and Angola.
Captain Jay-Jay Okocha missed the game. Okocha, 32, had been in doubt after a thigh injury . He picked up his injury in a training camp in Portugal.
* Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel may think the favourite’s tag for the African Nations Cup title has been given to his ‘Elephants’ to turn the pressure on, but they must produce a convincing performance against the ‘Greens’ of Libya today.
“Those who are saying that we are favourites are just playing mind games. They are trying to turn the pressure cooker up. But we will not fall into that trap,†Michel said.
The 58-year-old Frenchman expressed his satisfaction at their 1-0 win over one of his former sides Morocco in the opener but they were fortunate to take the points against a side that had the majority of the chances.
With striker Aruna Dindane absent because of the death of his five-month-old daughter — and far from certain to return —and leading scorer Didier Drogba struggling with a knee injury it has been far from the most fortunate starts to the tournament.
Indeed apart from the food, “Tito†Drogba — who scored the penalty in the Morocco match that gave him 18 goals in 25 internationals — has complained of the knee, the state of the pitch and fatigue, hardly the best mental state to lead the line in Africa’s football showpiece.