The Lions of Teranga will have to wait before getting their ticket to the round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations (CAN). Dominant but imprecise – like the organizing country, Morocco, the day before against Mali – Senegal was held in check (1-1) by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Saturday December 27 in Tangier. Tied at the top of Group D (4 points), the two teams will play their qualification on Tuesday, during the last meetings of the group stage.
Dominating is not winning. And Sadio Mané’s teammates, who were not very effective against the Congolese cages, learned it on Saturday. Conversely, while his team was dominated, Cédric Bakambu opened the scoring with a fox from the surface (0-1, 61st), at the end of a Congolese movement that was initially well orchestrated, then poorly returned by the Senegalese defense.
Less than ten minutes later, Sadio Mané was responsible for leveling the two teams (1-1, 69th), following a relentless ride from the young Parisian Ibrahim Mbaye. If his shot was returned by Lionel Mpasi-Nzau, the DRC goalkeeper, the ball returned to Sadio Mané, who had time to control before sending the ball into the net. Respectively against Benin and Botswana, Senegal and the DRC will try to qualify on Tuesday (8 p.m.).
First success for Benin
Because Benin won, a few hours earlier, the first success in its history at the CAN. Beaten by the DRC during their first match (0-1), on an error by defender Yohan Roche, the Guépards – their new nickname, after having put away “the Squirrels” – saw the same side score the only goal of the match against Botswana (1-0).
A goal sufficient for Gernot Rohr’s men, who won their first match in CAN. If they had qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2019 edition, their journey had only been punctuated by draws. “We are determined to make history in a positive way. We want to break this bad dynamic”assured the captain, Steve Mounié, before the competition. It is now done, and Benin can hope to qualify, by beating Senegal in the last match.
Qualified Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania neutralize each other
In group C, Uganda and Tanzania – who will jointly organize CAN 2027 – failed to decide between themselves (1-1) in their second match in the competition, after losing respectively to Tunisia (1-3) and Nigeria (1-2). The two neighbors have one point after two days, compared to six for Nigeria, first, and three for Tunisia, currently second.
After a rather dull first period, Tanzania took the lead on a penalty from Simon Msuva (59e), but was joined by Uganda twenty minutes later, thanks to a diving header from Uche Ikpeazu. The match got heated in the final minutes, during which either nation could have taken the advantage. Uganda were first awarded a penalty, but Allan Okello fired over. Then the Tanzanian Charles M’Mombwa, alone facing an empty cage, missed his left-footed shot.
This draw does not help anyone, except Nigeria, which qualified for the round of 16 of the competition after its victory against Tunisia (3-2). Dominant from the start, the Super Eagles multiplied the opportunities and did not leave any ball to their opponents in the evening.
Victor Osimhen, in all the right situations from the start of the match, opened the scoring for Nigeria just before the break. Eric Chelle’s men even increased their lead after returning from the locker room, thanks to their captain Wilfred Ndidi (50e), before that Ademols Looks (67e) does not worsen the score.
Yet trailing by three goals and non-existent until then, the Carthage Eagles woke up in the last fifteen minutes of the match. Montassar Talbi first headed a free kick distilled by Hannibal Mejbri (74e), then Ali Abdi scored a penalty with a powerful strike under the bar (87e). Sami Trabelsi’s men could even have equalized at the very end of the match, first through Ferjani Sassi, whose header too crossed ended at the foot of Stanley Nwabali’s post, then through Ismael Gharbi, who crushed his right-footed shot a little too much. The Tunisians will have to finish the job on Tuesday, against Tanzania, if they want to get their ticket for the round of 16 of this CAN.
