NIGERIA No new names here... Aina the only one for the future. I am a bit sad not to see any of the Belgian boys: Bonaventure, Kalu or Onyekuru. Goalkeepers (3): Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United, South Africa); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (FC IfeanyiUbah); Ayodele Ajiboye (Plateau United FC) Defenders (7): William Ekong (Bursaspor FC, Turkey); Abdullahi Shehu (Anorthosis Famagusta, Cyprus); Leon Balogun (FSV Mainz 05, Germany); Elderson Echiejile (Sivasspor FC, Turkey); Uche Agbo (Standard Liege, Belgium); Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC, France); Olaoluwa Aina (Hull City, England) Midfielders (6): Mikel John Obi (Tianjin Teda, China); Ogenyi Onazi (Trabzonspor FC, Turkey); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Oghenekaro Etebo (CD Feirense, Portugal); John Ogu (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel); Mikel Agu (Bursaspor FC, Turkey) Forwards (7): Ahmed Musa (Leicester City, England); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC, England); Odion Ighalo (Chang Chun-Yatai, China); Victor Moses (Chelsea FC, England); Anthony Nwakaeme (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel) STANDBY: Dele Alampasu (Cesarense FC, Portugal); Tyronne Ebuehi (ADO Den Haag, The Netherlands); Aaron Samuel (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Afeez Aremu (Akwa United); Ifeanyi Ifeanyi (Akwa United)
GHANA Big decision as the Ayew brothers are dropped as is John Boye. A lot of locals on the list. GOALKEEPERS: Richard Ofori (Martizburg, South Africa), Lawrence Ati (Sochaux, France), Joseph Addo (Aduana Stars) DEFENDERS: Defenders: Harrison Afful (Columbus, USA), Daniel Opare (Augsburg, Germany) Agbenyenu Lumor (Portimonese, Portugal), Abass Mohammed (Harrisburg City, USA), Kasim Nuhu (Young Boys, Switzerland), Daniel Amartey (Leicester, England), Jonathan Mensah (Columbus Crew, USA), Nicholas Opoku (Club Africain, Tunisia), Vincent Atinga (Hearts of Oak) MIDFIELDERS: Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Joseph Attamah (Bakaksehir, Turkey), Christian Atsu (Newcastle United, England), Kingsley Sarfo (Malmo, Sweden) Alfred Duncan (Sassuolo FC, Italy), Ebenezer Ofori (Stuttgart, Germany), Thomas Agyepong (NAC Breda, Holland), Frank Acheampong (Tianjin TEDA, China), Isaac Twum (Inter Allies), Patrick Twumasi (Astana FC, Kazakhtan) FORWARDS: Asamoah Gyan (Kayerispor, Turkey), Raphael Dwamena (FC Zurich, Switzerland), John Antwi (Misr Lel-Makkasa, Egypt), Richmond Boakye Yiadom (Crvena Zvezda, Serbia)
Cote d'Ivoire squad: Goalkeepers: Sylvain Gbohouo (TP Mazembe/COD) Axel Kacou (Tours/FRA), Horthalin Blé Zadi (Africa Sports/CIV) Defenders: Serge Aurier (Paris SG/FRA), Eric Bailly (Manchester United/ENG), Lamine Koné (Sunderland/ENG), Wilfried Kanon (Den Haag/NED), Adama Traoré (Goztepe/TUR), Joris Gnagnon (Rennes/FRA), Ghislain Konan (Vitoria Guimaraes/POR) Midfielders: Cheick Doukouré (Levante/ESP), Franck Kessié (AC Milan/ITA), Geoffroy Serey Dié (FC Basel/SUI), Jean Michaël Séri (Nice/FRA), Seko Fofana (Udinese/ITA), Sékou Sanogo (Young Boys/SUI), Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Mainz/GER) Forwards: Maxwel Cornet (Lyon/FRA), Gervinho (Hebei Fortune/CHN), Salomon Kalou (Hertha Berlin/GER), Seydou Doumbia (Sporting Lisbon/POR), Roger Assalé (Young Boys/SUI), Jonathan Kodjia (Aston Villa/ENG), Wilfried Bony (Swansea) Big news is Bony back in the team and Gbamin being brought into the side (former U20 France World Cup winner).
Big games to watch in each group: GROUP A: Guinea - Tunisia (Sunday 18:00 CET) If Tunisia win this then the World Cup is theirs. But Guinea is fully capable of taking this one. Especially with Naby Keita running the team, in my opinion Africa's best midfielder by a mile. Keita will be very rested for the game (had a three game red card suspension), but will he be raring to go or out of form? DRCongo still have to win in the other game, but this is the game that can open up the group again. GROUP B: Nigeria - Zambia (Saturday 17:00 CET) Obvious game to watch, as the other two teams are out. Zambia need a win. Even a draw doesn't give Zambia much, as it gives them a +5 GD to overcome and the need to cross fingers that Algeria beat Nigeria in November. Football Rankings give Nigeria a 95% qualification chance, so Zambia's chances look slim. GROUP C: Mali - Ivory Coast (Friday 20:00 CET) Morocco vs Gabon will decide who the chasing party is, but Cote d'Ivoire need to win this game to pull ahead. After their shock home loss to Gabon, they need to put some distance between themselves and the opposition. A loss or draw could see them being leapfrogged and suddenly someone else takes the reins. Big news for Gabon is that Aubemeyang is back!!! GROUP D: Cape Verde - Senegal (Saturday 14:00 CET) Obviously a wide open group. But this match provides two key sets of info: Did the Cape Verde double over South Africa more to do with South Africa than a sudden spike in form? And will Senegal take hold of this group, given now they have a game in hand? Burkina Faso play away to South Africa, but regardless the result of that game its the Cape Verde - Senegal match that sets up the dynamics, even more so that it is played first. GROUP E: Egypt - Congo (Sunday 18:00 CET) Not sure how Ghana and Uganda allowed for their game to be played before Egypt's decider vs Congo. Its just making Egypt's job easier, because if they know the score, they know what they need (if Ghana win, then Egypt knows a win vs Congo lets them qualify). All in all though an Egypt win almost puts them in Russia. If Uganda wins vs Ghana, then Egypt will still have to wait and play a brutal away game vs Ghana. But if Egypt draws or loses... well then group E is wide open again, especially if the other game ends in a win. This outcome seems unlikely (Egypt has a 7 wins, 1 loss head to head), but Egypt has thrown away qualification several times in the past...
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...up-is-cape-verde-s-biggest-dream-2910090.html is titled "Rocha: The World Cup is Cape Verde's biggest dream."
Great looks like Senegal might have a day to clinch qualification where Burkina Faso and Cape Verde have to sit and hope things go their way.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2017/m=10/news=akolo-my-world-cup-dream-lives-on-2910336.html is titled "Akolo: My World Cup dream lives on." Chadrac Akolo plays for Congo DR.
So Cote d'Ivoire opens the door wide open for Morocco (possibly Gabon). Although it all basically boils down to Cote d'Ivoire - Morocco on final match day anyway. South Africa ripping Burkina Faso to shreds - 3:0 by half time and sure as hell it ain't over yet for South Africa... But this group looks set to remain absolutely to the wire.
South Africa win 3-1 against Burkina Faso in a match that should have ended with South Africa having 5-7 goals honestly. South Africa got a red card with 20 minutes to go with the score at 3-0. Bongani Zungu given a straight red after Traore hit Zungu and then Zungu retaliating. Further Kabore elbowed Vilakazi twice in the same scuffle. It really should have been two Burkina Faso red cards in the same scuffle that Zungu got his red card. However Zungu deserved his. A much needed and deserved win
Wow! Ghana get robbed at the death. They score and win with the final kick of the game. No chance in hell it was offside. It was clear as day. Apart from that denied a stonewall penalty. I fully expect Egypt to win tomorrow, but this game should be a Ghana win. Terrible. If Egypt fail to win tomorrow Ghana will have all the reason in the world to be aggravated. Ghana needs to speak out. This was pure robbery. I would go as far as to suggest the referees were bought.
This round couldn't have gone better for Senegal. They basically need 1 point in their next two games to qualify. That means we have: Nigeria (booked), Tunisia (almost there), Egypt (almost there), Senegal (almost there) and ? (too early to say). Check out Senegal's goal for 2:0 (Ndoye):
Cape Verde & Burkina Faso are already out. The group would've been much more exciting if the result for SA-Senegal stood (to be clear, it shouldn't stand).