AFCON Daily: Mali and Burkina Faso top groups, Namibia claim shock first AFCON win
In this fourth edition of AFCON Daily find all the action from January 16th, as Group E kicked off and saw Namibia shockingly secure their first AFCON win.
Also discover how Burkina Faso topped Group D and we preview the final AFCON fixtures of round one, taking place later today, including Qatar World Cup semi-finalists Morocco in action.
Mali 2-0 South Africa
Mali dominated the second half to beat South Africa 2-0 with goals from captain Hamari Traore and Lassine Sinayoko, despite South Africa’s Percy Tau missing an early penalty.
This puts Mali top of Group E on goal difference after its opening day of action, with Namibia recording their first ever AFCON win over group contenders Tunisia.
A penalty was awarded to South Africa when Sikou Niakate threw an arm in the direction of Evidence Makgopa’s face, trying to prevent the striker from reaching an incoming cross.
Tau skied the penalty, missing an early opportunity to take the lead, seemingly aiming for the top left corner with the inside of his foot.
Tau made three Premier League appearances for Brighton
Sphephelo Sithole played a piercing through ball into Tau, but his chance at redemption was saved at Djigui Diarra’s near post.
Eric Chelle surprisingly replaced star player Yves Bissouma for Lassana Coulibaly with his first change, but it worked as his side looked more threatening.
Mali thought they could have had a penalty when Mothobi Mvala tripped up Sinayoko on the edge of the box but it was just outside.
Les Aigles had the ball in the back of net regardless, as Sekou Koita’s free-kick bounced down off the crossbar into the lap of Traore who tapped in.
South Africa were then caught playing out, giving Kamory Doumbia the opportunity to find Sinayoko who barged off Siyanda Xulu and rolled the ball in with the outside of his foot to double Mali’s lead.
Continuing an unbeaten run in opening AFCON games, Mali won their third AFCON game against South Africa in three meetings.
Eduardo Tansley
Namibia 1-0 Tunisia
Namibia recorded a historic first ever AFCON win, beating former champions Tunisia 1-0 in the Group E opener.
Namibia, ranked 115th in FIFA world rankings, celebrate their late winner
There were jubilant scenes at the final whistle for Namibia who, competing in their fourth AFCON, have finished rock bottom in the group stage in each of their previous participations.
A late Deon Hotto header was enough for victory thanks to an excellent performance in the Namibia goal from Lloyd Kazapua, who kept Tunisia out at every time of asking.
Lloyd Kazapua made four saves from inside the box in the contest
Namibia should have gone into half-time in the lead. A good ball squared to Peter Shalulile from Hotto should have been converted but the skipper’s shot was straight at Bechir Ben Said in the Tunisia goal.
The Brave Warriors’ high press stopped Tunisia getting any level of control in a first half in which they struggled.
At the start of the second half, Shalulile had another great chance to score but could not stretch far enough to get on the end of a dangerous ball across the goal.
Tunisia then found their way back into the game, striker Haythem Jouini had a couple of good chances but his attempts lacked quality.
They kept pushing for a winner but the heroics of Kazapua kept them out, first from an Elias Achouri one on one and then a back-post Youssef Msakni header.
88 minutes in, Namibia got their winner. A brilliant cross to the back-post found an unmarked Hotto, who capitalised on the terrible Tunisia defending and headed in to give Namibia a historic three points.
Michael Thomas
Burkina Faso 1–0 Mauritania
Bertrand Traoré’s ice-cold 96th minute penalty gave Burkina Faso their first ever win in an AFCON opener.
Bertrand Traoré came on as a substitute late in the game
For Mauritania, an otherwise impressive performance was undone by Nouh El Abd’s careless challenge in the 90th minute.
Underdogs Mauritania were the dominant side in the first-half.
Aboubakary Koïta came close in the 31st minute, but his swerving free-kick was denied by a scrambling Hervé Koffi.
Burkina Faso’s goalkeeper continued to impress in the second-half, getting down quickly to tip Sidi Amar’s curled effort beyond the post in the 77th minute.
However, it was the Burkinabés who seized the attacking impetus during crunch time.
Substitute Traoré enlivened the Stallions’ attack, forcing Babacar Niasse into a good save during the 83rd minute.
Mauritania raced out on the counter three minutes later but the imperious Edmond Tapsoba snuffed out the danger.
Some less composed defending at the other end then put Mauritania’s hard-fought point in jeopardy.
El Abd brought down Issa Kaboré in the box with a poorly conceived sliding challenge in the 90th minute.
A penalty was awarded after a lengthy VAR check and Traoré found the left-corner from twelve yards to steal the win.
Jonny Coffey
What’s on today?
Morocco vs Tanzania (17:00 GMT)
Morocco and Tanzania kick-off Group F on the final day of Matchday One.
Morocco’s Atlas Lions rank amongst the favourites for the tournament after becoming the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final in 2022.
Morocco beat Belgium, Spain and Portugal en route to the semi-final
Their star-studded squad is in good health ahead of their opener, and they proved their pedigree when these two sides last met in November, cruising to a 2-0 victory.
Tanzania are yet to win a game at an AFCON finals, and list four players from England’s non-league in their AFCON squad.
However, The Taifa Stars will take confidence from the giant-killing escapades of some of their fellow AFCON underdogs.
Only a last-gasp Mohamed Salah penalty stopped Mozambique, another team yet to win an AFCON game, from defeating seven-times winners Egypt on Sunday.
Later that day, The Blue Sharks of Cape Verde outscored and outplayed Ghana’s Black Stars.
Could we see another shock result here?
DR Congo vs Zambia (20:00 GMT)
DR Congo and Zambia are both former AFCON victors and will enter the tournament with their sights set on the knockouts.
Zambia were victorious in 2012, while DR Congo won in both 1968 and 1974
With Morocco favoured to claim Group F’s top spot, a win for either side could prove decisive in the race for second place.
Neither side will be taking encouragement from their recent form, though, with one win in six for DR Congo and two in six for Zambia.
Brentford FC’s Yoane Wissa is expected to make his first AFCON appearance, and he is likely to be accompanied by Galatasaray’s Cédric Bakambu in attack.
However, The Leopards will miss Watford’s Edo Kayembe in midfield after a calf injury against Plymouth ruled him out of the tournament.
Leicester City’s Patson Daka is expected to play a key role for Zambia throughout the tournament and will hope to make his mark today.
Jonny Coffey
