W/African leaders want Nations Cup

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja - 28.01.2008

ALL FOR THE NATIONS CUP ... A cross
section of Ghanaian fans at the Ohene
Djan Stadium, Accra during the opening
match.

The Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have charged all the teams participating in the ongoing Nations Cup in Ghana to play their heart out and ensure that one of them brings the Cup back to the region.

Despite the abundance of talents in the sub-region, the ECOWAS leaders at the end of their 33rd ordinary Summit in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, expressed disappointment that no team from the sub-region has been able to win the Cup in the last 14 years after Nigeria’s victory at the 1994 championship in Tunisia.

The leaders, however, wished all the football teams participating in the championship from ECOWAS states goodluck and expressed the hope that one of them would win the Cup. A statement issued after the meeting and made available to Tribunesports from the ECOWAS secretariat, Asokoro, Abuja said: “Heads of State wished football teams from the region participating in the Cup of Nations good luck and expressed the hope that one of the teams from the ECOWAS region will win the trophy.”

The Nations Cup kicked off on Sunday in Ghana, a West African country, and the regional leaders hoped that the Cup would be retained by one of their teams, which include the Super Eagles of Nigeria; Black Stars of Ghana; Elephants of Cote’ d’ Ivoire; and the Eagles of Mali which are strong contenders for the Cup.

Other teams from the region participating in the Nations Cup are The Squirrels of Benin Republic and Syli Nationale of Guinea. Unfortunately, Nigeria, Cote’ d’ Ivoire, Mali and Benin Republic will play in the same group, with the opening match between Nigeria and Cote’ d’ Ivoire today, indicating that two of these teams would be out of the competition after the first round.

Any of the two teams that qualified from the Nigeria’s group would also have to meet Ghana or Guinea if they also qualify from their group.