AFCON 2020 Quarter Final Matches

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2020.

AFCON 2020 Quarter Final Matches

July 3, 2020

Mali 0 Ghana 1

 

Ghana’s Samuel Owusu made the most of a goalkeeping error to send his nation into the AFCON 2020 Semi Finals with a 1-0 victory over Mali.

 

Ghana started the strongest of the two sides, belittling Mali in various plays across the park. Jordan Ayew had an early chance, only to gain little purchase on the ball as it strolled to the Malian goalkeeper, Djigui Diarra.

 

In the twelfth minute, Emmanuel Boateng crossed from the left wing to Owusu. His header, though from a tight angle, nearly crossed the line after hitting the crossbar.

 

Nine minutes later, Owusu won the ball in a dangerous position, only for his left foot to miss wide of the mark. Still, Ghana had the stronghold on the match as they sought ways around and through the Malian defence.

 

Meanwhile, Mali had pockets in the first half of any true attack, only for Ghana’s defence to hold them away from shooting. Ghana instead tried valiantly down the left wing; nothing seemed to come of their advances.

 

After a corner, Mubarak Wakaso had a chance to shoot from outside the box, only for the ball to partially hit a defender. The ball fell to Owusu, whose effort brought about a choice save by Diarra and a key clearance to safety.

 

Down the other end, defenders got in the way of Lassana Coulibaly’s left footer, resulting in a corner. Ghana quickly countered, opening play right up. Eventually, Wakaso had a shot halted by Diarra, before Andre Ayew’s attempt barely missed the post. The score remained 0-0.

 

After the break, all of Diarra’s work came undone when he passed the ball straight to Owusu, who made no mistake with the ball unattended. His right footer into the goal sent the Ghanaian crowd into pure jubilation.

 

Down the other end, Richard Ofori dived to halt the strike of Kalifa Coulibaly. Lassana Coulibaly also had an attempt blocked. The Malians maintained pressure on the Black Stars in the hopes of finding an equaliser. Cheick Doucouré came off the bench and tried for that goal; his shot flew straight into the chest and arms of Ofori.

 

Mali took control of possession and worked the ball around, looking for a hole in the Ghanaian defence. It nearly paid off as Lassana Coulibaly was found in the box on the run; his shot fired across the face of goal and out of play.

 

In the end, Ghana played keepings off where it counted, and Mali could find no way to goal despite Player of the Match Diadie Samassékou’s best efforts in controlling much of the play with his passes and movements. 1-0 was the final score.

 

July 3, 2020

Egypt 1 (1) Guinea 1 (2)

 

An extra-time goal was the difference between Guinea and hosts Egypt in the second Quarter Final.

 

Guinea looked dangerous early, cutting passes in from the right wing. Mohamed Yattara had a shot early blocked from reaching the goalkeeper, Mohamed El Shenamy. From the corner aimed at the near post runs, Francois Kamano reached in front of the defenders to header first, leaving a diving El Shenamy to somehow keep the ball out of the net.

 

Down the other end, a corner soon found Ahmed Hegazy outside the box; his shot just flew wide.

 

In the 21st minute, Egypt worked up the field in unison to gift Mohamed El Neny a clear strike on goal. Unfortunately, his power was too great, and the ball sailed over the bar.

 

In the 34th minute, Ayman Ashraf and Trezeguet combined to hand the latter a volley that needed a firm save by Ali Keita. Later, El Neny had another attempt after Mohamed Salah set him up when the Guinean clearance only resulted in a left-wing attack. Similarly, Abdalla Said missed to the left of goal, leaving Egypt to wonder if a goal would ever come their way.

 

Egypt racked up free kicks either side of the break, but to no avail. Guinea countered early in the second half off a free kick that went awry, with Yattara bringing about an El Shenamy save at the near post. Guinea also had their fair share of free kicks; none amounted to much, aside from a wild Kamano attempt on goal in the 64th minute.

 

Coming off the bench, Ibrahima Bangoura took a half-shot on goal that El Shenamy managed to stop. Naby Keïta then crossed to Yattara, whose header hit the woodwork.

 

Egypt attacked, hoping to score the winning goal; Ali Keita managed to toss out his hand to stop the cross from reaching any dangerous strikers.

 

Instead, the goal came from Tarek Hamed in the 74th minute. He walked around the Guinean defence that had been so formidable up until this point, and snagged the crucial goal, tucking the ball inside the post and ruffling the back of the net.

 

Guinea had half-chances go begging as they sought an equaliser, including Yattara’s attempt to find room away from his marking men, and Amadou Diawara’s wild shot finding the crowd. Diawara tried again in the 82nd minute, only to have the shot blocked. Again, Bangoura found Diawara free five minutes later, only for the shot to find the hands of the diving El Shenamy. The Egyptian goalkeeper also saved substitute Ibrahim Cisse’s header from Issiaga Sylla’s perfect short cross from the left wing.

 

Instead, Sylla’s perfect cross from the right wing after the corner went back into a regulation area of the field helped Keïta score the equaliser in the 90th minute. The header sailed beyond the reach of the Egyptian goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Extra time was called upon to separate the two sides.

 

Hamed tried to replicate his first goal from the outset; the ball did not hit the correct part of his boot and it sailed to the left of goal.

 

Instead, in the 113th minute, Keïta stepped up again and headed home the winner in similar fashion to his first goal. This time, it was Bangoura who set Keïta up with the deft touch.

 

Egypt tried taking on their opponents in the midfield; however, the Guinean players and defensive structure held firm and took the win out of the hands of the host nation.

 

July 4, 2020

Algeria 2 (3) (4) South Africa 2 (3) (3)

 

Algeria require an extra-time goal and penalties to overcome a tough South African side in the third ACFON Quarter Final match.

 

South Africa looked on fire early, crossing with relative ease into ideal positions. Percy Tau nearly set up Dean Furman, whose left footer needed a save by Algerian goalkeeper Rais M’Bohli.

 

Algeria focused more on counterattacks; their thwarts could not find the finishing blow as the Bafana Bafana defenders and goalkeeper worked in tandem.

 

Down the other end, Lebo Mothiba had a left-footer half-blocked by his direct opponent. From the corner, Furman struggled to get enough purchase on the ball, seeing it only cleared after it hit the ground.

 

The match soon tightened after open play for the first fifteen minutes. It took until Tau’s blocked attempt on goal in the 30th minute for anything cutthroat to be produced.

 

Six minutes later, it was South Africa who were found wanting with their right-field players stuck in attack. Mohamed Belaili drifted forward and then looped a cross over to Islam Slimani, who made no mistake with his head.

 

Needing to fight back, Tau also crossed from his own right wing, only for Themba Zwane’s volley to miss. Algeria held on in defence to the lead until the break.

 

However, in the 48th minute, South Africa drew level as Mothiba won a challenge in an attacking position and defeated M’Bohli in a one-on-one challenge.

 

Algeria needed to regain the lead, and Slimani’s corner found a volleying Yacine Brahimi; the volley flew to the left of goal.

 

Instead, it came from Riyad Mahrez holding onto the ball for longer than anyone thought, before setting up a veering Belaili, who shot with genuine power into the corner of the net.

 

With just over half an hour left, Algeria tightened the screws, not allowing the South Africans to gain any purchase on the match. Sofiane Feghouli went on a deep run from the right wing, only for his final shot to fly further away from goal with the spin.

 

South Africa fought and fought late, and after some trying times up forward, the 87th minute saw Kamohelo Mokotjo score an equaliser. His hot came from just inside the box, curling the ball out of reach of the Algerian goalkeeper and just inside the post.

 

Into extra time, South Africa took the lead early with what they thought would be the winning goal, as substitute Bongani Zungu worked down the left wing, faster than his direct opponent. His cross found the volley of Hlompho Kekana, and the ball found a minor deflection into the back of the net.

 

In frustration at the restart, Ismaël Bennacer received a yellow card. South Africa could sense a win if they remained settled.

 

However, substitute Salim Boukhanchouche had other ideas as he headed off a free kick, levelling the match once again.

 

Late in extra time, Ramy Bensebaini cut down the left midfield before crossing into substitute Andy Delort, whose header just missed to the left of goal.

 

Bennacer had the last ping of the match; Ronwen Williams made the crucial parry.

 

The penalty shootout had Algeria take an early advantage, with Belaili scoring his spot kick with ease, while Kekana, despite scoring in extra time, missed. Boukhanchouche did not follow in his footsteps and gave Algeria a 2-0 lead in the shootout. Thulani Serero, Carl Medjani, Teboho Mokoena, Andy Delort and Bongani Zungu all scored for their respective sides. Algeria had the chance to win the contest, only for Bennacer’s shot be saved by Williams. Tau, despite being Player of the Match, kicked to the right but the goalkeeper chose the right way, and Algeria celebrated as they progressed to the final four, taking on Ghana.

 

July 4, 2020

Nigeria 4 Tunisia 2

 

Nigeria maintained their high scoring ways as they scored two late goals, defeating Tunisia 4-2 in the last remaining Quarter Final.

 

The Super Eagles looked the goods early as they passed around the Tunisian defence with ease. John Obi Mikel looked to have the best chance in a kerfuffle of sorts, only to have his shot blocked. His second shot, this time with his left, missed to the right of goal. His third, retrieving a poor clearance, brought Tunisian goalkeeper Farouk Ben Mustapha into play for the first time.

 

From the corner, Mikel set the ball aloft Ahmed Musa’s head, who made no mistake as he punted with his forehead out of reach of Ben Mustapha.

 

However, by the 26th minute, Tunisia worked back into the match, and had a goal via Ali Maâloul, who worked wonders to power the ball into a net not covered by the Nigerian goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi.

 

The rest of the half was played in the middle of the park as neither side could gain ascendency. Only Nigeria looked like scoring late as Musa had two attempts from a tight angle halted, before the same passage of play saw two attempts from Samuel Kalu go begging.

 

Nigeria looked more dangerous in the second half, culminating in a corner where Moses Simon showed perfect placement with his head. Nigeria had the crucial 2-1 lead.

 

With just over thirty minutes remaining, Tunisia felt there was time still to level. Wahbi Khazri had a one-on-one with Akpeyi, only for the Nigerian goalkeeper to come out on top. Two passages of play later, Ellyes Skhiri could not overcome the goalkeeper.

 

Tunisia worked over and over against the Nigerian midfield, and soon gained the upper hand. Aymen Ben Mohammed worked from left back to the byline, where he crossed into Youssef Msakni. The header did find Akpeyi, only for the ball to be too strong for his hands.

 

Tunisia looked content in playing for extra time, and took some semi chances. However, Nigeria had the victory in their sights. Ahmed Musa was on the end of a counterattack, and nailed Nigeria’s third in the 89th minute. Both sides then had chances to score, before Joe Aribo put the game beyond doubt with seconds remaining, with Mikel Player of the Match with his goal and two assists.

 

Nigeria now take on Guinea in the Semi Finals.