Head coach of Niger, Ezzaki Badou, has reflected on Niger’s narrow miss on qualifying to compete in the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.
Speaking in a post-game interview after Niger’s shock 2-1 win over Ghana at the Accra Sports Stadium, the former Morocco national team player and head coach, rued flight challenges his team endured during the qualification campaign.
The win over Ghana condemned the Black Stars to a winless qualification campaign; Ghana drew three and lost three in six outings.
Niger finished third in Group F behind Angola and Sudan with seven points to miss out on qualifying to compete in next year’s tournament. Second placed Sudan amassed eight points.
“Our last match against Sudan gave us the belief that we could do it. Most of my players are amateurs in Niger. For those playing abroad, they had to travel 18 hours before games and often arrived just a day prior.”
“Our flights sometimes took an hour even from Lomé to Accra. A better travel arrangement would have made a big difference.”
