African Player of the Year El Hadji Diouf again could not score Monday, failing to lift Senegal beyond a 1-1 draw with Mali at the African Cup of Nations and forcing his team into a tough quarterfinal with host Tunisia.
On a day when Mali's outstanding striker Frederic Kanoute was rested, Diouf was not even the best forward in the Group B matches. That honor went to Dennis Oliech, who celebrated his 19th birthday with a goal and two assists to lead Kenya to its first ever African Cup victory by 3-0 over Burkina Faso.
Diouf, who has not scored for Liverpool this season, missed several open chances and, the one time he produced a bit of magic, his left-foot drive crashed against the post.
PHOTO: AP
His bad luck set up a great quarterfinal with the host, but Senegal would have preferred to have won Group B and face Guinea instead.
Mali prevailed in the group with seven points, two ahead of Senegal. Kenya had three points and Burkina Faso was last with just one.
Everybody was hoping for a clash between Diouf and Kanoute, but Mali coach Henri Stambouli decided his top player deserved some rest after scoring three goals in the first two games.
The draw left him all the happier.
"We all know the offensive potential of Senegal and getting a draw against the World Cup quarterfinalist is good," he said.
Mali went ahead in the 33rd minute when Kanoute's replacement, Dramane Traore, headed a free kick past Tony Sylva with such force, it left the goalkeeper flatfooted.
Senegal tried to pressure but never developed the kind of freeflowing play which turned it into a World Cup sensation two years ago. It came to a defender to earn the Teranga Lions a draw. Olympique Marseille's Habib Beye lunged at a free kick from Henri Camera on the stroke of halftime and glanced the ball past Mahamadou Sidibe.
Mali often manhandled Diouf, who became increasingly frustrated at not being able to dominate the match. In front of goal, the Liverpool striker was again a shadow of his usual self.
He could have made the difference in the fourth minute, when he fluffed an easy volley from close range.
In the 22nd, he was unmarked but sent his shot meekly into the arms of Sidibe.
Three minutes before halftime, Diouf was again unmarked and from seven meters out he still could not get his volley past the goalkeeper.
And the only time Sidibe was truly beaten, the post got in the way.
"We wanted to win but the circumstances were not always favorable," said Senegal coach Guy Stephan.
It was a happier day for Oliech, who plays in Qatar for Al-Arabi.
He proved a constant menace and he was at the heart of Kenya's 51st-minute opening goal.
Collecting the ball 40m out, he used both pace and skill to penetrate into the area, before sliding across a precise ball which gave Emmanuel Ake a simple tap-in.
Oliech collected a long pass in the 64th minute, swung round the goalkeeper and deposited the ball into an empty net, then celebrated with a dance around the corner flag.
With eight minutes remaining, Oliech showed off more of his crowd-pleasing skills. He danced past three players, feinted to shoot, before back-heeling to Johan Barasa to complete Kenya's first African Cup win.
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