Ghana avoided the ignominy of becoming the first World Cup qualifiers not to make it past the Africa Cup of Nations first round thanks to a little help from a legend’s son.
Missing Michael Essien and a score of first choice players, the four-time champions still managed to book their place in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over 10-man Burkina Faso on Tuesday.
The only goal came from French-based Andre Ayew, son of one of Africa’s most decorated players, Abedi “Pele” Ayew, three-time Africa Footballer of the Year and a member of Marseille’s 1993 Champions League winning side.
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Ghana’s reward was a last eight date with hosts Angola at Luanda’s 11 November Stadium on Sunday.
The main news off the pitch on day 10 of the competition came from Cabinda, where Mali dispatched a letter of protest regarding Monday’s goalless draw between Angola and Algeria.
The shared point put those two sides through from Group A at the expense of Mali, who cried foul.
“We are lodging a vehement protest against the behavior of the Algeria and Angola teams,” Mali Football Federation president Boubacar Thiam wrote in the letter, a copy of which has been seen by reporters. “In fact the second half of the game was a total non-match, the two sides systematically refusing to play in order to maintain the score at 0-0 which was sufficient for qualification.”
He continued: “This anti-sporting behavior is contrary to the ethics and the fair-play policy put forward by FIFA and CAF (Confederation of African Football) must condemn it with the utmost vigour. It does a disservice to African football and to the game in general. We hope that CAF will take the necessary disciplinary measures.”
Thiam cited as a precedent for his protest a similar incident at the Africa Cup of Nations Youth Championships in 2001 match against Cameroon and Egypt who received no points as punishment after a scoreless draw.
Meanwhile, there was encouraging news from South Africa concerning the state of health of Kodjovi Obilale, the goalkeeper injured in the deadly gun attack on the Togo team bus on Jan. 8.
His condition is stable and he is responding well to treatment,” said Erin Smylie, spokeswoman for Milpark Hospital, a private facility where the 25-year-old is being treated.
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