Sunday 3 February 2013

AFCON 2013 South Africa Day 1 of the Quarterfinals results

Keita giving Yeye a wedgie AFCON 2013
Keita giving Yeye a wedgie during Mali v SA game AFCON 2013


It was a beautiful day of football on the second of February 2013 during the AFCON 2013. Ghana played against the giant killers Cape Verde and Mali faced the hosts Bafana Bafana. The first quarter finals were clashes between group A of AFCON 2013 and group B of AFCON 2013.

Ghana v Cape Verde


Ghana had been one of the favourites to win the tournament since the beginning of the AFCON, they had also supported the favourite tag by coming out top of their group with 7 points, drawing their first match and convincingly winning their next two games. Cape Verde on the other hand were the underdogs of the tournament from the get go having qualified by eliminating Cameroon in the qualifiers. They began their tournament with two draws and end the group stages with an impressive win over Angola by coming from a goal behind to win the game 2-1.

Cape Verde started the quarterfinal well taking the game to the Ghanaians, they had many shots at goal compared to Ghana but they failed to hit the target, Ghana started off slow but were growing in stature as the match progressed. Ghana got a penalty when their player was shoved off a ball in the 18 area. Ghana converted the penalty into a goal but that did not stop the Cape Verdeans from attacking. In fact when the goal was scored the game became more exciting. The Cape Verdeans launched attack after attack but it was to no avail as they failed to score. During a last minute attack by the Cape Verdeans each and every one of their players went to the Ghanaian goal in an attempt to score from a corner, including their keeper. They failed to score,  the ball was cleared by Ghana and they launched a counter attack which turned into a goal as they netted into the empty goal of Cape Verde to make it 2-0.

Mali v South Africa


Mali had a tough group stage, they began with a victory over Niger, then a loss to Ghana then they drew their final match against the DRC to secure a second place finish in their group. South Africa started their tournament under pressure from the home crowd expecting a victory in the first match against Cape Verde but was held to a boring 0-0 draw. South Africa improved in their second Match by starting like a house on fire to defeat Angola 2-0. There once again impressive when they came back twice against the Moroccans to draw the match 2-2 and secured a place in the next round top of their group.
The South Africans played their best since the tournament began in the first half during the quarterfinal, constantly attacking the much favoured Malians. They scored a deserved goal when Thuso Phala crossed the ball to Rantie who tapped into the back of the net. South Africa began the second half well but let the Malians get back into the game when an un-marked Keita scored a stunning header from a cross. The Malians were now improving as the match approached 90 minutes but the match ended with a 1-1 score so it had to go into extra time. During extra time both teams tried to score the winning goal but could not convert the opportunities they created. Extra time was over and it was now time for penalties. Mali won by converting all 3 penalties whereas the South Africans only managed to score one, with Furman, Mahlangu and Majoro not converting. Shabalala was the only South African to convert from the spot. Mali had for the second year running moved on to the semi finals by defeating the hosts on penalties. 

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