Uganda boss Paul Put said he would invite his players to dance with him if they were to beat Nigeria, but the team was denied the chance to see their Belgian coach's moves after a 3-1 defeat.
Put away your dancing shoes
Paul Put threw down the gauntlet: vanquish Nigeria and qualify for the last 16 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and I will invite you to dance with me. However, not even this prospect could motivate his players. They laboured and lost to a Nigeria side featuring four men who had not yet played at the competition. One of them, Raphael Onyedika, bagged a brace in the 3-1 win at the Stade de Fes.
Hype man
Victor Osimhen skippered Nigeria against Uganda in the absence of Wilfred Ndidi, and the star striker was his usual effervescent self on the field. Off it, he gave encouragement to Raphael Onyedika, who collected the man of the match award after scoring twice. Osimhen prodded the 24-year-old Club Brugge midfielder towards reporters and kept watch, while singing his praises himself.
"Onyedika has been one of our best players," Osimhen told reporters. "He doesn't get the hype he deserves. He's a talented player and for the kind of performance he's just given, he deserves to be in the spotlight."
Happy headache
On the eve of the tie between Nigeria and Uganda, the former's coach Eric Chelle spoke about the task of coaching the finest players from a country of more than 200 million people.
Following their 3-1 win over Uganda, Chelle said: "The team worked hard. The group gave a good answer because the players who hadn't started games were in the team from the beginning and they showed something. I'm very happy for that. So now I have a little pain in my head because I have to make a lot of choices. Everybody can play in the team and it's perfect for me." A welcome problem for the 48-year-old former Mali international.
Tanzania triumph
While Uganda were messing up their chance in Fez to move into the last 16 knockout stages, Tanzania came from behind to draw 1-1 with Tunisia in Rabat and reach the second phase for the first time.
Their debut at the Cup of Nations came in 1980, when it was an eight-team affair. Their second appearance arrived 39 years later in Egypt, at the first competition to include 24 sides. There they lost all three matches in the group stages.
It was a better showing in Cote d'Ivoire two years ago. They drew two matches and lost the other during the pool stages. In Morocco, Tanzania secured one of the four places for the best third-placed teams.
Hero time
And with that, Miguel Gamondi has become the first coach to steer a team from Tanzania to the knockout stages at the Africa Cup of Nations. "I am proud of Tanzania and the players," beamed the 59-year-old Argentine. "My goal was for our team not to feel inferior to the other teams. We have a good generation."
The calibre of those players will be tested when they face hosts Morocco in the last 16. "We did our best against Tunisia and we know what we need to do in the next game to stop the problems," he added. "Against Morocco, it will be a huge match with a lot of pressure."
