The luck of the draw will decide the final quarter-finalist at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Ivory Coast earned their spot from Group D by beating Cameroon 1-0 on Wednesday, but Mali and Guinea drew 1-1 yet again, meaning they cannot be separated in the standings.
Instead, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was to put the names of the two teams into balls yesterday at a hotel in Malabo and an official will pick one of them. Whichever one is chosen will advance.
“It’s hard for each team because nobody deserves to be out of the competition,” Guinea coach Michel Dussuyer said. “But now it is a reality we have to face.”
There had been a possibility that all four teams would be in the draw, but Ivory Coast managed to hold on for victory in Malabo — the only result in the group that did not finish 1-1.
In Mongomo, Guinea took the lead when Kevin Constant converted a 15th-minute penalty. Mali had a chance to equalize two minutes later, but captain Seydou Keita missed a penalty at the other end.
The equalizer eventually came in the second half through forward Modibo Maiga’s back-post header.
However, since Mali and Guinea could not be separated on the field, they will be separated by luck.
“They are the regulations of the competition and we have to go by them,” Mali coach Henryk Kasperczak said. “But it doesn’t work well. They [CAF] need to look at it again.”
Max Gradel scored the only goal of the match at Malabo Stadium after collecting a pass from Siaka Tiene that went through the legs of Cameroon forward Edgar Salli. He then ran toward the middle of the field before unleashing a hard shot that flew past a diving Fabrice Ondoa.
The result gives the Ivory Coast first place in the group and a quarter-final match against Algeria on Sunday in Malabo. In Sunday’s early match at the same venue, the lucky team from yesterday’s draw is to face Ghana.
Ivory Coast coach Herve Renard, who has worked with several teams around the continent, coached in Algeria a few years ago, so his next opponent is no stranger.
“I spent a very, very good time over there, and now I have to make them cry,” Renard said. “It’s just a joke. I have a lot of friends in Algeria.”
The Ivory Coast was playing its second straight match without Gervinho, the AS Roma forward who was given a straight red card in the opening game against Guinea and was then handed a two-match suspension.
However, Gradel has been getting things done up front among a team that includes Yaya Toure, Wilfried Bony and Salomon Kalou. The Saint-Etienne midfielder has scored two goals in two matches. On Saturday, he came on as a substitute and scored an 87th-minute equalizer in the 1-1 draw with Mali.
Cameroon again played an up-tempo game, but rarely threatened the Ivory Coast goal. One of the best chances of the first half for the Cameroonians came when Salli shot over the bar in the final seconds. More chances came in the second half as the Ivorians sat back, but there was no finishing touch.
“I think the Ivory Coast took advantage of a little mistake we made in the first half to score the goal,” Cameroon coach Volker Finke said. “In the first half, we had two or three really good chances, but didn’t score, and that is the reason we lost.”
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS