The round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations ends this Tuesday, with a friendly Mali – Burkina Faso at 6 p.m., followed by an enticing Morocco – South Africa at 9 p.m. But before looking at these posters, 20 minutes gets you into his DeLorean. As we bought it second-hand, we only offer you a very short time travel of a few hours.
Match of the day: Senegal – Ivory Coast (1-1, 4-5 on the tabs)
“What else?” », as George Clooney, Jean Dujardin and Camille Cottin would say, to extol the merits of a coffee of which the host country of the CAN is also an important producer. Between an almost miraculous qualification for the round of 16, the incredible soap opera surrounding the non-appearance of Hervé Renard on a bench deserted by Jean-Louis Gasset and the pedigree of the opponent, reigning African champion, everything seemed gathered for a shipwreck of the Elephants on mondiovision, this Monday evening.
Habib Diallo’s quick goal (4th) further accentuated the trend. But the men of Emerse Faé, Gasset’s former assistant who was propelled to number 1 in the middle of the competition, have tough skin. And former AC Milan and Barça Franck Kessié slipped into the costume of the national hero. Entering in the 73rd minute, the Al-Ahli (Saudi Arabia) midfielder first equalized from the penalty spot (86th), before scoring the victorious shot on goal, while the Senegalese Moussa Niakhaté had missed his. The party could begin in the streets of Yamoussoukro and the entire country.
The daytime rant: Krépin Diatta launches his “J’accuse”
Often discreet when he plays in the colors of Monaco, the Senegalese right winger let loose in the mixed zone, after his team’s defeat. Speaking to staff at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) media department, Diatta expressed his anger: “You killed us, you are corrupt. Keep your African Cup. » The reason for his anger: a penalty not called for a Cameroonian foul on Ismaïla Sarr (55th), while the Lions of Teranga led 1-0.
The Gabonese referee Pierre Ghislain Atcho did not consult the video of this action, although he did so to validate the Elephants’ equalizing penalty, after Édouard Mendy mowed down Nicolas Pépé. “You go to the VAR to give them a penalty, a guy who takes the ball 40 meters and does a ride, gets into the box, and you don’t want to go and watch the VAR? I’m sorry but this is overkill. I’m really sorry but there they killed our competition,” said Diatta. The Monegasque quickly forgot that Sadio Mané’s sole on the Ivorian Ibrahim Sangaré could have earned him a red card rather than a yellow in the 9th minute.
The curse of the incumbent continues: since Egypt’s performance (treble in 2006, 2008 and 2010), no reigning African champion has achieved the double.
Man of the day: Ryan Mendes (Cape Verde)
Yes, the logical choice would have been to opt for Kessié or Faé, but we wanted to save the other round of 16 on Monday, which took place late in the afternoon in Abidjan, from oblivion. We won’t say that we saw great Mendes, but the Cape Verde captain provided the essentials, propelling the Blue Sharks to their second CAN quarter-final, eleven years after the first.
The 34-year-old former Le Havre and Lille player, now at Fatih Karagümrük (Turkish D1), scored the only goal of the match against Mauritania, from the penalty spot, just in time to avoid extra time (88th). The Mourabitounes resisted well against the gang of Steven Moreira and Logan Costa, but they ended up giving in, after a mistake from their goalkeeper Babacar Niasse (Guingamp) who mowed down Gilson Benchimol after a risky delivery from one of his defenders.