Nigeria bounced back from the brink to sneak into the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals on Tuesday, but the door to the last eight closed on Mali.
The two countries were scrapping for the honor of finishing runners-up to Ivory Coast in Group B and passage to the knockout stages, with Nigeria prevailing.
Berti Vogts' under-achieving side set up a last eight date with Ghana by beating Benin 2-0 in Sekondi, with Mali crashing 3-0 to Ivory Coast in Accra.
PHOTO: AP
Nigeria's victory over Benin, after defeat to Ivory Coasts and a goalless draw against Mali, was largely down to the work of Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi, who scored their first and set up Yakubu Aiyegbeni for the second.
Obi's Stamford Bridge teammate Didier Drogba celebrated his 50th international cap by firing Ivory Coast into a ninth minute lead over Mali, with Benfica's Marc Zoro and Boubacar Sanogo wrapping up an impressive win.
Ivory Coast's reward for a perfect nine points from the opening round is a quarter-final tie with Guinea, who will be without their suspended skipper Pascal Feindouno, in Sekondi on Sunday.
PHOTO: AFP
There was relief all round in the beleaguered Nigerian Super Eagles camp at avoiding a likely early trip back to Lagos.
"We asked for something of a miracle and it happened," Osaze Odemwingie said.
"We are now up against the host team and if we want to progress in this competition, we will have to beat them as well. We showed great mental strength and that is what we will need again on Sunday. Rule us out at your own risk," said Odemwingie, who after picking up a second booking against Benin will miss the game.
Obi said the win was down to some hard training, and lady luck.
Asked if the side were prepared to take on a resurgent Ghana on home turf he replied: "Hold on -- we celebrated this win in the changing rooms, now we'll go back to the hotel, sleep well, and think about Ghana tomorrow. It's going too be tough, but we've got one of the best sides in the competition and we want to show that to the Ghanaians."
"We gave a good account of ourselves but Nigeria were more determined to carry the day. We wish them the best of luck against Ghana on Sunday," said Benin striker Razak Omotoyossi, whose parents are Nigerians.
In Accra Drogba will have been relieved to have avoided a clash with another Chelsea star on view at the 2008 Cup, Ghana's Michael Essien.
But he wasn't taking the prospect of confronting Guinea lightly.
"We've qualified well, but there's a hard quarter-final ahead for us. Guinea aren't there by accident," he said.
Ivory Coast coach Gerard Gili said the win over Mali would stand them in good stead, with a tough quarter-final coming up.
"Thanks to the individuality and experience of some of the players we won well," he said.
Mali coach Jean-Francois Jolar tipped Ivory Coast to go all the way. "We lost to a strong and complete team, they have everything to win the title."
Explaining the non-appearance of Sevilla striker Fredi Kanoute for the second half he said: "Unfortunately Fredi was injured, it was a big blow. Another blow was Adama Coulibaly, who became ill. I'm very disappointed that we didn't play well in the first half, we didn't take risks in attack, we didn't manage to impose in midfield."
The pre-match focus had been all about whether the two west African neighbors might settle for a cosy draw to allow both to go through at Nigeria's expense, but as Jolar said: "No one can say the game was rigged now!"
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS