Izuchukwu OkosiSuper Eagles midifelder Alhasan Yusuf will not be fit enough to play in Thursday’s crucial Group A encounter against Cote d’Ivoire in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Head coach Jose Peseiro revealed this during Wednesday’s press conference ahead of the game at the 60,000-capacity Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara in Ebimpe, outside Abidjan.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPeseiro insists that the Royal Antwerp of Belgium player is fine but is short of match fitness to confront the Elephants.
“Yusuf is out of the game tomorrow. He is fine but not ready for tomorrow’s match. He will be ready for the last group match.”
Peseiro stated further: “We have what it takes to win the game tomorrow and there’s nothing to change in my team because we created lot of goalscoring opportunities in our game against Equatorial Guinea and we hope to utilise the opportunities this time and score goals.”
Captain Max Alain Gradel, who has 105 caps and was part of the Elephants’s squad that won the trophy in Equatorial Guinea in 2015, said: “We are Cote d’Ivoire. We respect all our opponents. But we fear nobody. We will do what we have to do.
“It is a special moment for us to play the Africa Cup of Nations in our home, with the support of our people. We will do everything to make the people proud. We have super players in the squad, especially for what they bring to the group. It is a decisive match; it is an important match. We know what we have to do.”
Coach Jean-Louis Gasset said: “We are relieved; the pressure was so strong. We had seven players who started the match (against Guinea Bissau) who were playing in their first AFCON.
Gasset admitted that the Elephants have some areas to improve upon in their drive to win the tournament.
“Not everything went well, but we are relieved. All the matches we have seen have a different scenario. In the match of Nigeria, they had one or two opportunities against Equatorial Guinea. If you don’t make your superiority count, the opponent will become confident. There are no more small teams.”
The Elephants celebrated a 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau’s Wild Dogs on the opening day of the tournament, while the Eagles forced Equatorial Guinea’s Thunder to a 1-1 draw on Day 2.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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