Late drama, heart-break and shock results
Match day 4 & 5 in Coted’Ivoire was filled with late drama, heart-break and more shock results.
In the first game of the day, substitute Bertrand Traore became a local hero in the streets of Burkina Faso, after scoring a dramatic 96th minute penalty winner against Mauritania. This crucial goal callously denied the Mauritanians their third ever point at an Afcon. As The Lions of Chinguetti healed from their broken hearts, The Eagles of Carthage were dealing with the shock of being outplayed by Namibia in their Group E opener. The Brave Warriors – ranked 115th in the world were rewarded for their lively performance when winger, Deon Hotto headed in an 88th minute winner for the Southern Africans. Tunisia failed to find an equalizer, which ultimately meant that the 2004 champions currently languish at the bottom of the group with South Africa.
What went wrong with Bafana Bafana?
(1.) Squandered first half opportunities
A 2-0 loss to Mali was certainly not the result Hugo Broos was looking for. South Africa started the game the hungrier of the two sides, mounting relentless pressure on the Malian defence. The pressure nearly paid off when South Africa was awarded an 18th minute penalty after a VAR check exposed an elbow in the face of striker Evidence Makgopa from Sikou Niakate. Captain Percy Tau stepped up to take the penalty but blasted the ball over the crossbar.
In the words of Sachin Tendulkar “A champion team needs only a small window of opportunity” By the end of the first half, Hugo Broos’s men had more ball possession and shots on target than their West African opponents but failed to crown their fine first half efforts with a goal. The huge misses would come back to haunt South Africa in the second half.
(2.) Poor Second half performance
Whatever Mali coach Eric Chelle said in his half time team talk certainly worked!
The Eagles of Mali got off to a flying start in the second half with two goals in less than ten minutes. Yves Bissouma was substituted and replaced with Lassana Coulibaly 13 minutes into the second half. The introduction of Coulibaly gave The Eagles another dimension as they pressed high and took advantage of Bafana Bafana’s dramatic energy drop and lack of belief in the second half. The man of the match was undoubtedly R B Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara whose commanding presence in the midfield made things difficult for the likes of Sphephelo Sithole, Teboho Mokoena and Themba Zwane. The 2-0 result means The Eagles of Mali join The Brave Warriors of Namibia at the top of the group while The Eagles of Carthage and Bafana Bafana struggle at the bottom of the group on zero points.
The Atlas Lions continue Qatar 2022 form
2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco continued to show their pedigree after crushing 10-man Tanzania 3-0 in their Group F opener. Captain Romain Saiss opened the scoring in the first half before Azzedine Ounahi and Youssef En-Nesyri took advantage of their numerical advantage, adding a second and a third goal to end the game as a contest. Morocco looked very much on course to lift their first Afcon title in 48 years. Elsewhere, DR Congo and Zambia played to a 1-1 draw. The result means that the Atlas Lions sit pretty at the top of Group F.