South Africa looking ahead - Coach

Oliseh describes Nigerian victory a good start

Nwanko Kanu receives best African player trophy

Cameroonians still confident despite their team's draw

Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 25 Jan. 2000

South Africa's coach, Trot Moloto, said his team's 3-1 victory over Gabon in last night's group B match was just the beginning.

Speaking at a post-match conference at the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Monday, Coach Moloto said even though they won, the competition still has a long way to go.

Coach Moloto said with this at the back of his mind, he did not want to fatigue his players, he said, adding that that was why they allowed the Gabonese to do most of the running.

He said even though the performance of his boys was not very good, he was quite happy with the result.

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Lagos (Nigeria) 25 Jan 2000

Nigerian skipper Sunday Oliseh has described Super Eagles' 4-2 victory over Tunisia in their Group D match as a good start in the 16-team African Nations Cup championship being co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana.

"It was not an easy match," said Oliseh, who stars for Juventus of Italy, at a post-match briefing.

But he denied his team was caught flat-footed, allowing the Tunisians to score a cheap last minute goal.

"We held them for the greater part of the game," Oliseh said, adding that the Eagles would get better as the tournament progressed.

Nigerian deputy team coach and ex-international Stephen Keshi, echoed Oliseh's sentiments, urging the restive Nigerian soccer fans to show more understanding towards the team.

He said the Super Eagles, who had only been together for about one month, played "to tactics and we won," adding that they had a slight edge over the Tunisians.

Against CAF rule, neither the Tunisian coaching crew, nor the players were ready to give the mandatory post-match media briefing.

Paul Bassey, an official of the Local Organising committee said it was CAF's duty to get officials and players to the mixed zone for post-match conferences.

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Lagos (Nigeria) 25 Jan 2000

Africa's best football player of the year, Nwanko Kanu received his trophy Sunday from the newly re-elected president of the Confederation of African Football, Issa Hayatou.

The hand-over before the kick-off of the Nigeria- Tunisia Group D match in Lagos, was witnessed by Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president who is attending the 22nd African Cup of Nations being co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana.

This is the second time that Kanu, who plays for the London Club of Arsenal, has been voted African best player of the year. He was awarded the same trophy in 1996 after leading the "Super Eagles" to an Olympic Gold at the Atlanta Olympic Games in the US.

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Yaounde (Cameroon) 25 Jan 2000

Cameroonians say they are hopeful that their national squad would lift the trophy in spite of the 1-1 draw with the Black Stars of Ghana during the opening match of the 22nd edition of the CAN 2000 played Saturday in Accra.

Some fans even said after the match that the coach made a mistake when he replaced Joseph-Desire Job, while the optimists maintained that Cameroon dominated the match.

However, others said they consider the draw as a loss.

The chairman of the Cameroonian Athletics Association and current chairman of the National Olympic Committee, Col. Kalkaba Malboum, who watched the game on television, observed that Cameroon "was not mentally strong to defend their one goal lead."

He also expressed regret over the lack of cohesion in the team but said nothing is lost for the country once mistakes are corrected during the rest of the competition.

That view is shared by the secretary general of the CEP/FECAFOOT, Jean Pierre Atangana Mballa, who said: "We should not forget that it was an opening match in front of a crowd backing their team, which is one of the favourites in the competition. A draw in these conditions is a good result.

Cameroon has a complete and strong team. Our chances of qualification remain high."

Cameroon will play Cote d'Ivoire on 28 January in Accra.

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