Senegal and Mali set up Africa Cup quarterfinal
Sadio Mané led Senegal to the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations after a 3-1 win over Sudan in Tangier. The 2019 and 2022 African footballer of the year chased and harried, and set up goals and chances for teammates, leading by example in the absence of suspended captain Kalidou Koulibaly.
Mané set up midfielder Pape Gueye’s first goal of two and substitute Ibrahim Mbaye’s goal to send the Lions of Teranga, the 2021 champions, through to a quarterfinal against Mali, which held on with 10 men on a cold, wet night in Casablanca to beat Tunisia 3-2 in a penalty shootout.
“We needed to dig deep,” said Senegal coach Pape Thiaw, whose team faced an early setback when Aamir Abdallah stunned the favorites with Sudan’s opener in the sixth minute. It was the first and last goal scored by a Sudanese player in the tournament. The Falcons of Jediane defeated Equatorial Guinea in the group stage thanks to an own goal.
The Sudanese, who played all of their qualifying matches away from home as the country contends with a brutal war and humanitarian crisis, were bold against Senegal. “I am sure the Sudanese people know that we came to this competition and proudly represented them,” Sudan coach James Kwesi Appiah said. Senegal was a challenge too far, though. Mané set up Gueye to score in the 29th. Gueye also got the second before the break, set up by Jackson. The 19-year-old Mbaye made his entrance as a substitute in the 74th and Mané set up the youngster to wrap it up on a break three minutes later.
Mali digs even deeper: El Bilal Touré fired Mali into the quarterfinals with the winning penalty in a 3-2 shootout win over Tunisia after they finished 1-1 with extra time. Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra saved two penalties to make up for misses from Yves Bissouma and Dorgeles Nene, as the Eagles set up a showdown with Senegal in Tangier on Jan. 9. Tunisia was left to rue the miss from Ali Abdi and saves Diarra made to deny Elias Achouri and Mohamed Ben Romdhane. They failed to beat Mali despite having an extra player from the 26th minute, when Woyo Coulibaly was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on Hannibal Mejbri.
It was one of many bad tackles. Referee Abongile Tom had already issued four yellow cards before the red. Coulibaly was the second Mali player sent off in two games after Amadou Haidara against Comoros.
Even after the sending off, neither Mali nor Tunisia managed a shot on target in the first half. Fans needed to wait till the 88th before Elias Saad crossed for Firas Chaouat to head what most assumed was Tunisia’s winner. But Tunisia defender Yassine Meriah conceded a penalty in stoppage time, and Lassine Sinayoko duly equalized from the spot to send the game to extra time. It was Mali’s first shot on target. Sinayoko also scored in the shootout to draw the team level again after Mali captain Yves Bissouma started by blazing his penalty over.
