Mali made a miraculous recovery to pull back from a four goal deficit and hold Angola to a 4-4 draw in the opening game of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Luanda, Angola, on Sunday.
The hosts appeared set for the best possible start when a first half double from Flavio Armado and penalties from Gilberto and Manucho had them celebrating a famous victory.
With only 16 minutes on the clock Mali looked down and out.
PHOTO: AFP
But a double from Barcelona’s Seydou Keita and contributions from Frederic Kanoute and Mustapha Yattabare gave them an improbable draw.
“This draw tasted like a defeat to me, this is one of the most bitter pills I’ve ever had to swallow in all the matches of my long career,” Angola coach Manuel Jose said. “Football in Africa is learning on the road, we have the skills but we were a little naive. It makes the next match a little more complicated. The public deserved a win.”
Angola skipper Kali said: “We have to raise our heads — I’m so sad and sorry — there’s no explanation for letting go of such a big lead. But we’ve got to give a good response in our next match.”
Mali coach Stephen Keshi, who lifted the title with Nigeria as a player in the 1990s, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“It was a little difficult to believe we might come back,” he said. “I’ve got mixed feelings, I’m happy with a draw but upset with my team.”
This Nations Cup curtain raiser began with a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of Friday’s deadly gun attack on the Togo team coach in Cabinda.
The silence, immaculately observed by the 50,000 capacity crowd, turned to something much louder seconds after kick off when Mali goalkeeper Mahamadou Sidibe had to look lively to deal with Flavio’s shot from the left.
The Angolan striker only made the starting XI after shrugging off injury, but Keita was on the bench after missing the Eagles’ warm-up games with a thigh problem.
Angola were forced into an unscheduled change of personnel in the 22nd minute when Aderito Carvalho was stretchered off and replaced by Djalma Campos.
Keshi sent Barcelona midfielder Keita into the fray sooner than expected when Le Mans forward Modibo Maiga limped out of contention.
This was the first ever match at the 11 November Stadium built by the Chinese and ressembling a smaller version of Beijing’s Birds’ Nest.
And the “Chicks Nest” burst into life in the 35th minute when Flavio raced on to Gilberto’s angled 20m freekick from the left to put the hosts’ in front with a low powerful header.
One minute from the break Flavio got his double, another fine header set up by fullback Jose “Malbina”Alberto.
That prompted the wife of Angolan head of state Jose Eduardo dos Santos to jump off her seat and execute a very un-First Lady style jig.
Mali’s multi-million pound strikeforce, led by Sevilla’s Kanoute, had proved strangely impotent in the first half.
They looked a more purposeful force after the interval, with only Angola keeper Carlos Fernandes’ charge out of his box stopping a shot by Mali captain Mahamadou Diarra.
Gilberto then struck from the spot after he was brought down in the box by Mamadou Samassa.
The Al-Ahly midfielder proved a cool customer as he converted, but was then ordered to have a second go by Egyptian referee Essam Abdel Fatah, which he duly struck past Sidibe.
Manucho got Angola’s fourth, also from the spot after another foul on Gilberto, but then Angola crumbled.
Keita began the comeback after a scramble for the ball in the box following a mistake by Fernandes.
Then Kanoute struck with a classy header, with Keita producing a volley for his double and Yattabare grabbing a highly unlikely point for the Eagles.
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he