Day: January 29, 2024

DR Congo advanced to the next stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in a dramatic penalty shoot-out that saw them klick-out Egypt from the competition.

D.R Congo defeated Egypt them 8-7 on penalties in the round of 16 at the

Stade Laurent Pokou after 120 minutes of action.

Meschack Elia scored to put D.R Congo into the lead in the 37th minute, when he headed home from the six-yard box to score the game’s opening goal. 

The Pharaohs responded to D.R Congo’s lead in the first half with intense pressure and were awarded a penalty after VAR review.

Mostafa Mohamed made no mistake as he converted it into the top right corner with goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi-Nzau beaten. 

The seven-time champions despite their second half dominance couldn’t break down the resilient D.R Congo defence forcing the game into extra time, the very first one of the tournament in Côte D’Ivoire. 

Egypt were reduced to 10-men in the extra-time after Hamdi Mohamed was sent off following his second yellow card of the game. 

The numerica
l disadvantage didn’t prevent Egypt from pressing and creating the chances. 

Game travelled to shootout and Egypt missed twice from the penalty spot, Mostafa Mohamed and goalkeeper, Gabaski both missed their kicks, Arthur Masuaku had missed his earlier for D.R Congo. 

D.R Congo would now take on Guinea in the last eight.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mohamed Bayo’s last-minute goal for Guinea left the hearts of Equatorial Guinea in the Round of 16 game played at the at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Guinea derby had all the ingredients of a knockout encounter, with both sides having a go at each other from the onset.

Equatorial Guinea came into the clash with good momentum following their impressive first place finish in a tough Group A consisting of Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria while Guinea snuck into the round of 16 as one of the four best third finishers of the group stages.

With both sides creating chances, a golden opportunity was presented to Equatorial Guinea just after the hour mark when Ivan Salvador was fouled in the box for the in-form Emilio Nsue to step up but saw his penalty denied by the woodwork to the relief of Guinea.

The missed penalty would have been a huge advantage to Equatorial Guinea who were a man-down following the sending off of Frederico Nchama.

With just a few seconds before the en
d of the ninety minutes, a swift build up by Guinea concluded with Ibrahim Diakite sending a delightful ball into the area which was cleverly headed into the near post by Bayo to seal a place in the quarter-finals for the seventh time in 14 appearances.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Lionel Mpasi goalkeeper of DR Congo is confident his team will win the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after kicking out Egypt from the competition on Sunday night.

Mpasi scored the winning penalty to help D.R Congo eliminate Egypt from the round of 16 stage said in a post-match wants the current generation to replicate what the team did 15 years ago when they won Championship of Africa Nations (CHAN).

‘We’re already going to rest well and then we’ll take it match after match. All this without forgetting that DR Congo won a continental title in Côte d’Ivoire (CHAN in 2009). ‘Maybe that’s a sign,’ he said. 

The goalkeeper explained how he prevented Gabaski from scoring his penalty and the technique behind his winning penalty. 

‘I tried to stay calm. I tried to distract Gabaski from his shot and I succeeded. After that, I concentrated on getting my technique right,’ said the Congo DR keeper.

Mpasi said he had remembered his missed shot in training and tried to do better. 

‘Before my shot, I thought ab
out how I had missed in training, but tonight it worked,’ he noted.

DR Congo would take on Guinea in the quarter-finals of the competition.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Rui Vitoria Head Coach of Egypt is sad his side failed to advance to the quarter-finals stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote’ Ivoire.

‘It wasn’t what we expected. We came up against a tough opponent. Each team have its strong and weak moments. 

  ‘We’re very sad. We worked hard to go far in the competition,’ he lamented.

  He continued that, ‘there was the penalty shoot-out and that wasn’t our day. In football, there are good times and bad times’. 

  According to the coach he would take part of the responsibility for the defeat and vowed to keep working with his team to succeed on conditions that he remains with them.

On his part Sébastien Desabre, DR Congo Coach said coach, he was proud with the output of his players.

  ‘I’m very proud of my players. We had a strategy in place to contain this team, but we played too low in the first half. I changed it afterwards and we played better. We suffered, but I think Egypt did too. 

  ‘My knowledge of Egyptian football probably helped us. T
hey’re a good team but we were better today. Mentally, I think we were very strong. 

  ‘Now we’ll try to recover well and then we’ll take it match after match, starting with Guinea, our next opponent,’ he added. 

  DR Congo defeated Egypt on penalties to advance to the quarter finals of the competition.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Cape Verde have made a historic entry into the quarter finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after a lone goal victory over Mauritania in the Roung of 16 game at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.

The two sides were deadlocked at 0-0 as the game entered the closing stages.

Cape Verde had dominated possession and chances, with Jovane Cabral having a goal disallowed for offside in the opening minutes. But Mauritania’s defence held firm.

Cape Verde had more pressing, while Mauritania posed threats on the counter attack with the passionate fans roaring on their teams.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 87th minute when Mauritania keeper Babacar Niasse brought down Gilson Tavares in the box.

Captain Ryan Mendes step up to smash home the penalty to take the lead which eventually became the match winner.

With the Mourabitounes now forced to chase the game, Cape Verde stood firm to see out a famous victory and advance to the quarter-finals for the second time, where they would face either Mo
rocco or South Africa on Saturday.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Cape Verde have made a historic entry into the quarter-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after a lone goal victory over Mauritania in the Round of 16 games at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.

The two sides were deadlocked at 0-0 as the game entered the closing stages.

Cape Verde had dominated possession and chances, with Jovane Cabral having a goal disallowed for offside in the opening minutes. But Mauritania’s defence held firm.

Cape Verde had more pressing, while Mauritania posed threats on the counterattack with the passionate fans roaring on their teams.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 87th minute when Mauritania keeper Babacar Niasse brought down Gilson Tavares in the box.

Captain Ryan Mendes stepped up to smash home the penalty to take the lead which eventually became the match-winner.

With the Mourabitounes now forced to chase the game, Cape Verde stood firm to see out a famous victory and advance to the quarter-finals for the second time, where they would face either
Morocco or South Africa on Saturday.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Walid Reragrui – Head Coach of the Morocco national team, has said they cannot afford any mistake at this level of the competition as they take on South Africa in the Round of 16 match on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media ahead of the match, the Moroccan said, ‘It’s a knockout match. It’s a change of competition. We can’t afford to make any mistakes.

‘We’ve done well so far, but we want to do better.  We have a lot of respect for South Africa. They were the last team to beat us on the continent.

‘We’re not in a favourable position, which is why I’m insisting on my group’s humility’ he noted.

Touching on the absence of Sofiane Boufal, the Coach he is out of the competition.

‘He has a muscular problem and, barring a surprise, we won’t be seeing him again.

‘Ziyech is also suffering from his ankle. The medical staff and I are doing everything we can to get him back on the pitch. If we have to take a risk with him, we’ll take it,’ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency