Fairytale qualifiers Libya enjoyed a bittersweet day on Sunday, defeating Senegal for their first Africa Cup of Nations win since 1982, yet missing out on the quarter-finals.
Libya’s 2-1 defeat of already eliminated Senegal in Bata was insufficient to lift them into the last eight after Zambia beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Malabo.
That left Zambia as the Group A winners, with the significant reward of avoiding a probable quarter-final date with competition favorites Ivory Coast.
Photo: AFP
That dubious honor now looks set to fall to Group A runners-up Equatorial Guinea.
Topping the table means the Copper Bullets are likely to face Angola or Sudan in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
“The aim was to secure first place, as in 2010 when we finished in front of Cameroon,” Zambia’s French coach Herve Renard said. “Here, we’re ahead of the co-hosts, who were on cloud nine after beating Senegal. It wasn’t a great match, but the important thing was to get the points. Now it’s imperative we get to the semi-finals for the first time since 1996.”
His Equatorial Guinea counterpart Gilson Paulo said: “I’m disappointed because this loss has a bearing on the rest of the competition, but we are still not certain we’ll be facing Ivory Coast.”
Zambia captain and striker Christopher Katongo settled a cagey Nuevo Estadio de Malabo clash of few scoring chances on 67 minutes, beating Brazil-born goalkeeper Danilo with a hard, low shot.
Although Equatorial Guinea are 25 places below Zambia in the FIFA rankings, there was no evidence of a yawning gap between the teams, with the National Lightning holding their own entering the final quarter.
However, a goal out of nothing from China-based Katongo silenced the crowd as a throw-in set up the former army sergeant to beat Danilo with a shot into the corner of the net.
In the simultaneous match in Bata, Libya celebrated their first victory since defeating Zambia 30 years ago when they hosted the competition.
Libya went in front after just five minutes through Ihab Abousaifi. Senegal responded six minutes later, when Deme Ndiaye rose above the defense to head home a corner. Abousaifi scored his second goal six minutes from time with a fine volley.
Afterwards, Libya coach Marcos Paqueta said: “We didn’t have any other choice but to take risks, and it worked. This is an important result for us after what’s happened in Libya and the tough conditions endured.”
“Among the difficulties is the fact that most of the players haven’t been attached to clubs, they’ve been through a war and there have been psychological consequences,” he said. “This [win] has crowned the efforts made since the start of the competition. I hope after their good performance here the players will be granted good conditions in Libya in the future.”
A defiant Senegal coach Amara Traore said: “I won’t resign, even if the responsibility rests with the manager.”
“I began this project two years ago, the team can’t be useless. I’ve got the strong desire to continue,” he said. “To call for the head of Amara or the [sports] minister doesn’t achieve anything. As the 2013 [qualifying] Nations Cup approaches, there are things to improve ... but not by giving the team to a Mourinho, Capello or Ferguson.”
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS