* Cameroon beat Gambia in five-goal thriller to progress to Round of 16
* Senegal collect maximum 9 points in Group C with win over The Guinea
* COSAFA representatives Angola secure ticket to next round with win over Burkina Faso
Maravi Express
Mauritania have recorded by far the most shocking result of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023 after beating Algeria on Tuesday while the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon defeated The Gambia 3-2 in their last group game to qualify for the knockout stage with 4 points.
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Defending champions Senegal rubber stamped their place in the Round of 16 after beating Guinea to collect 9 points from three group stage victories as Confederation of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) representatives, Angola secured qualification with win over Burkina Faso.
All the odds favored Algeria to pick their first win but Mauritania came to the party, sending their North African opponents packing — defending the 1-0 lead they took in the 37th minute when Yali Dellahi controlled a rebound to produce a great strike which deflected to put Mauritania ahead.
Mauritania managed situations and defended their lead throughout the game with some heroic saves from goalkeeper Babacar Niasse that kept the Lions of Chinguetti in the game.
The win is Mauritania’s first in the history of the AFCON and with three points, they are through to the knockout stage.
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In post-match interview, coach Amir Abdou said: “It is extraordinary what we are feeling and what we are going through. I told my players to not leave anything out, to believe until the final whistle and we saw all the scenarios we had in those conversations and we had seen other teams and we have been able to win against this Algerian team.
“Individually and as a team, we showed lot of determination for this qualification, so, we will start from here. It is a very difficult win. You find yourself in a country where you don’t know a lot of people where you had this result and people are going to hit you in the middle.
“The players had a historic game. I told them today that they need to write their names in the history books of Mauritanian football and they have done that.”
Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi said there are some things that cannot be explained, adding that they hadn’t been able to score even though they had good plan and tactics: “This is the mystery of football. If we do not create chances, if we were dominated by chances created by the opponent teams, if we missed a lot opportunities, then we could say there is a sector that is not good but that was not the case in the matches we played, so these are things I can’t explain.
“We are out of the AFCON for the second time and that’s football. That’s how it is. We have not been able to score, and we have not been able to make the difference.
“As I said in the beginning, we don’t have any small team in this AFCON and you can be punished any time with a set piece or a penalty, so we are not able to finish our chances and create more.”
Cameroon celebrate
Cameroon’s Karl Toko Ekambi put in the Indomitable Lions in lead in the 56th minute when he met a cross from Georges-Kevin N’Koudou to score with a header.
But The Gambia came back into the game with an equalizer through Ablie Jallow when he latched on to a cross into the 18-yard box to shoot into the bottom right corner to score.
The Scorpions went on to take the lead. Ebrima Colley was laid through by Assan Ceesay with a sumptuous pass and the forward kept his cool to put the ball into the net.
With exit staring in their faces, Cameroon had to respond — and they did and after pressure two minutes after The Gambia took the lead, James Gomez tried clearing the ball but it ended up in his own net.
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Cameroon then took the lead once again when defender Christopher Wooh met Georges-Kevin N’Koudou’s cross with a header to score for the Indomitable Lions to qualify to the knockout stage with 4 points.
Meanwhile, coach Tom Sainfeit has decided to part ways with The Gambia, saying: “This is my last game with the team, I’m going to stay with them in some few days. I have thought that this is the right time for me to resign and move forward.”
By virtue of winning their first two matches, defending champions Senegal had already secured a place in the next phase but still rubber stamped their place after second half goals by Abdoulaye Seck and Iliman Ndiaye secured the Lions of Teranga a 2-0 victory in Bouake.
With Guinea being two points behind them, it was a battle for the top spot for the two sides and in the evenly balanced tie, the deadlock was eventually broken a minute after the hour mark when Abdoulaye Seck found the opener, following a Krepin Diatta assist to give Senegal the lead.
Guinea, seeing that their chance of a place in the round of 16 was in jeopardy with Cameroon and The Gambia playing in a simultaneous fixture, went in desperate search of the equalizer but were met by a tactically sound Senegalese defense.
In true champion style, the defending champions absorbed the pressure and put the match beyond reach with a goal in the 90th minute following a Sadio Mane assist that was finished off by Marseille forward, Ndiaye who doubled and sealed the victory for the Teranga Lions.
Senegal coach Aliou Cissé said: “I am very satisfied with our players. We had good preparations since camping in December. We were in a tough group of death with strong opposition and won all three which makes me really satisfied.
“When we lost the final in 2019 to Algeria, we learnt a lot from that defeat, which allowed us to win the title two years later in Cameroon. So far, we have scored 8 goals in 3 matches. We will rest a little, and we have 5 days to play the Round of 16.”
His counterpart Kaba Diawara said: “The match was a derby, so we saw some excitement there. We regret this loss because we wanted to win. We tried to play and use our strengths, but it wasn’t to be.
“We faced the African champions and we really wanted to win because the match was a derby. Now we will recover and prepare for the next match. We want to qualify for the quarter-finals.”
Meanwhile, Confederation of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) representatives, Angola officially checked themselves into the Round of 16 with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Burkina Faso.
A goal in each half by Cristovao ‘Mabululu’ Paciencia and Ambrosini ‘Zini’ Salvador on the stroke of full time saw the Antelopes qualify for the knockout stages of the competition for the first time since 2010 as hosts.
Both sides got into the clash with the aim of securing all three points to finish as group leaders and therefore enjoy a slightly longer rest period ahead of the Round of 16.
With both sides having a fair amount of chances at goal, it was Angola who capitalized in the 36th minute when the dangerous Mabululu headed home to give his side the lead.
The goal gave Angola, who went into the game as group leaders, the much-needed boost ahead of the recess and coming back from the break, the Stallions surged forward but could not break the stubborn Angolan defense.
Victory was eventually sealed on the stroke of full time by Zini after a stinging shot that rebounded off the keeper found an alert Zini who slotted home to secure the victory.
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Pedro Gonçalves, Angola coach said: “Now we will rest and then we will prepare for the next match. We were smart throughout the match, especially during the important moments.”
His counterpart, Hubert Velud said: “We played well in the first half, but we conceded a goal, then we were ineffective in our attack. We then conceded the second goal in the final minutes of the match which killed our morale.
“We were well focused before the match and motivated to win and take first place in our group. We cannot say that Angola was stronger than us. There was a lack of attacking effectiveness on the part of Burkina Faso in the match.
“We finished the first round in second place, in a difficult group, and even the Algerian team did not qualify. What matters most to us is the 16-final match — there will be another type of match, different from the group stage matches.”—Info from CAFonline
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