The serious things begin with the third day of the CAN. New eliminations are looming, and Ivory Coast will have to make its public forget the defeat against Nigeria by relaunching against Equatorial Guinea. In group B, Ghana will try to save itself.
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The program of the day
Group A
6 p.m. : Equatorial Guinea – Ivory Coast: our live
6 p.m. : Guinea-Bissau – Nigeria: our live
Group B
9 p.m. : Mozambique – Ghana: our live
9 p.m. : Cape Verde – Egypt:our live
Possible scenarios
Before the third day, we take stock, calmly, remembering every moment of this first week of CAN 2024.
To understand everything :CAN 2024: duels to follow, possible scenarios… what you need to know before the 3rd day
Over the first two days, the hierarchy of African football was largely shaken up. If Senegal held its place, Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde and Angola are surprising group leaders before the third day which begins on Monday. All possible scenarios are in our balance sheet.
Today’s poster
Powerless against Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire must no longer have a choice against Equatorial Guinea, otherwise they risk spoiling their African Cup at home. To get through it, Jean-Louis Gasset is counting on the return from injury of his striker Sébastien Haller.
But the coach is wary of Equatorial Guinea, “a team block, a mischievous team that knows how to make mistakes without getting caught. They are full of confidence.”
And beware of ghosts: 40 years ago, during their first CAN at home, the Elephants experienced the disillusionment of early elimination.
Read alsoUpdate on the classification of group A
What happened yesterday
Morocco stalls against DR Congo: Walid Regragui’s crowning goal suffered a slight setback with a draw against the Leopards. The Moroccans had made the perfect start by opening the score but they gave up, letting the combative Congolese come back (1-1). Nothing serious for Morocco, still leader of Group F.
Zambia snatches a draw from Tanzania: the confrontation against Tanzania almost turned into a disaster for the Chipolopolos. A goal conceded quickly, a red card… But the African champions believed in it and snatched a draw in the last moments thanks to the inevitable Patson Daka (1-1).
South Africa is a hit against Namibia: the derbies of southern Africa come and go and look the same. For the third time in history, Namibia lost its confrontation with its neighbor South Africa at the CAN (0-4), and did not repeat its feat of the first match.
In short
Salah returns to Liverpool: new blow for Egypt. The Egyptian federation said on Sunday that the Pharaohs star would leave the African Cup to seek treatment in Liverpool. What the coach of the English club confirmed. The Egyptian Pharaohs striker injured his left leg hamstring on Thursday and had to leave prematurely against Ghana (2-2). He will still attend the decisive confrontation on Monday against Cape Verde, and could return if Egypt reaches at least the semi-finals.
Algeria is a bad loser: after the draw snatched by Algeria against Burkina Faso (2-2), the Algerian Federation filed an appeal. Target of his anger: the video assistance referee. According to her, two penalties not reported by the VAR should have been whistled. She demands that the match be replayed…
News from Umar Sadiq: we spoke to you a few days ago about the Umar Sadiq imbroglio. As a reminder, the injured Nigerian player left the group to join his club, Real Sociedad, with whom he played again this weekend. On Instagram, he explained himself at length, saying that the Nigerian medical staff had mistaken a simple contusion for a serious injury to the meniscus.
The CAN news
Catch the CAN news every match night live at 11:10 p.m. on France 24
The statement
Chiquinho Condé, Mozambique coach, before the match against Ghana: “We like to play with the crowd. We will annoy the Ghana team. They can play well, but they are not that strong.”
The sad picture of the day
🚨 Huge fight on the pitch then in the hallway between the two teams.
Completely surreal scene where the two teams run towards the corridor. #CAN2023 pic.twitter.com/xulu0ljhNG
— Hanif Ben Berkane (@HanifBerkane) January 21, 2024
The end of Morocco – DR Congo gave rise to clashes between the two teams. It all started from an altercation between the Atlas Lions coach, Walid Regragui, and the Leopards captain, Chancel Mbemba. At a press conference, the Moroccan coach expressed regret over the image given by the two teams. On social networks, the Congolese player is the victim of racist insults. Images we hate to see in football.
Walid Regragui 🇲🇦 reacts to the general fight between Moroccans and Congolese:
“I have a lot of respect for Mbemba 🇨🇩. Maybe it was adrenaline that made him act like that (shaking hands without making eye contact).
I regret because we didn’t give a good image or… pic.twitter.com/ImQcpkZPas
— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) January 21, 2024
