* When we have a goalkeeper who stops 4 penalty kicks, this is not luck but a lot of hard work
* South Africa date Nigeria in the semifinals while hosts Côte d’Ivoire meet DR Congo
Maravi Express
Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was the hero as South Africa beat Cape Verde 2-1 on penalties following a goalless 120 minutes to advance to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023 semi-finals.
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In the other quarterfinal match, hosts Côte d’Ivoire pulled off an extraordinary comeback win despite being reduced to 10 men to beat Mali 2-1 after extra time.
The game between South Africa and Mali ended 0-0 at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro in which goalkeeper Williams remarkably saved four spot-kicks in the shootout to send Bafana Bafana through.
Both sides started brightly in an open first half, but stellar defending and top-class goalkeeping from Williams and Cape Verde’s Vozinha kept the game goalless at the break.
Ronwen Williams
The second half followed a similar pattern as the teams traded blows in search of the breakthrough but a combination of desperation and brilliant defending saw numerous chances go begging.
Cape Verde almost stole it in added time when Gelson Tavares pounced on a deep ball only to smash his shot off the bar with Williams getting a hand to it.
The additional 30 minutes of extra time brought more chances, with South Africa’s Mihlali Mayambela forcing a superb save from Vozinha for the deadlock to remain and send the quarter-final into penalties.
After an impressive four penalty saves by Williams, Bafana Bafana secured their place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2000 where they will meet Nigeria.
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“When we got to the penalty shootout, it was a special thing for the players, because during training they were scoring them,” said South Africa’s coach Hugo Broos in post-match interview. “When we have a goalkeeper who stops 4 penalty kicks, this is not luck but a lot of hard work.
“Not many people in South Africa believed in this team, but we believed in it, and the players believed in themselves as well. Reaching the semi-finals is in itself a good thing for South African football.
“There was a lot of pressure in the match — everyone wanted to qualify. This match was unlike the previous ones. We did not show the same performance as we had in previous matches.
“The semi-final match will be different against Nigeria, which has good players like Lookman — we will not lose focus. The players will be in good condition, so we need to rest and recover to start our preparation.”
His counterpart, Bobista rued several of the chances they missed: “We have a good team, and we also faced a good competitor. We had several chances to kill the match, but we were not able to.
“We had a good journey, and we also deserved to be in the semi-finals. Our people will be happy with what we presented in the competition.
“We were the best in some phases of this match, and you know in such competitions, when you fail to score it will be complicated, and as for penalty kicks, sometimes there is luck.
“The players who took the penalties are the best in our team, but when you are tired it is difficult. I am proud of our players, they showed their character.”
The other quarterfinal at the Stade de la Paix was dramatic as the hosts were dealt an early blow when Odilon Kossounou conceded a penalty and was sent off in the first half for fouling Lassine Sinayoko.
Man of the Match, Cotê d’Ivoire’s midfielder Oumar Diakite
However, keeper Yahia Fofana saved Adama Traore’s spot kick to keep the Elehpants level at the break and outnumbered, the hosts were eventually breached in the 71st minute when Mali substitute Nene Dorgeles fired in from the edge of the box to give the Eagles a deserved lead.
But the Ivorians showed tremendous spirit and equalised against the run of play through Simon Adingra, who pounced on a rebound after Seko Fofana’s long-range drive was parried.
The game went to extra time, where the heroics of keeper Fofana kept Mali at bay once more but as penalties loomed, Oumar Diakete snatched a dramatic late winner for Côte d’Ivoire with a clever backheel finish in the 119th minute.
Cotê d’Ivoire coach Emerse Faé admitted that “it was a very very difficult game, we played against a tough team and they gave us a lot of problems at the first half which we had it hard”.
“The objective was to stop them from playing their game and we had it very hard getting at that and they actually put us in a very difficult situation because of the red card we received, it did not help us at all.
“We did not give up, we tried to put a plan into place to be able to contain them and to be able to keep the ball. We were not far from being eliminated, the players especially, didn’t give up, they fought into the end.
“Our state of mind is to look at the scenario of the game, we were trying to win with 10 against 11, they were in the lead and it was tactically difficult for us because they were almost the best at that time.
“Tactically, I think we played a good game — these are positive signs that give hope. I prefer not have a lot of suspense, we were able to study the very beginning of the game and we had tactical problems 15 minutes into the game.
“We need to revise how we start our games, we have to master the game from the beginning and not to be obliged to have a lot of pressure.
Mali coach Chelle
His counterpart Éric Sékou Chelle said: “This is really difficult for us to digest, we managed to put up a great match, this was a great match indeed and in the last minutes, we collapsed.
“We decided to comeback to a system of 5 defenders because there were lot of balls in the air and we had to manage that. I am sad for the players because this generation of players are talented and they deserve more.
I think there are a lot of teams that can’t do what my team is doing right now. I asked my players to play to win and we had a good game. A lot of interesting situations — we had two penalties and only one was given. We saw a hand with the ball that was not awarded, this is something we need to take a look at and the red card was a legitimate one.—Reporting by CAFonline
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