Nations Cup: Ghana, Mali advance

The Black Stars of Ghana and Eagles of Mali Monday night advanced to the quarter final stage of the ongoing 2013 African Cup of Nations holding in South Africa. The Ghanaians walloped the Mena of Niger Republic 3-0 to top Group B with seven points, and booked a quarter final date with the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde, who were runners up in Group A.
The Malians on the other hand managed a 1-1 draw with the Leopards of DR Congo to finish second in Group B with four points, and would tackle the hosts, South Africa in the quarter final.
Asamoah Gyan of Ghana made the first attempt at goal in the 6th minute of today’s last group match, as he collected a through pass from the far right, and unleashed a powerful shot beyond the Nigerien goalkeeper, Kassaly Daouda to put his team ahead.
The Nigeriens however came out struggling in the 8th minute, as Maazou moved forward and tried to go through the Ghanaian penalty area, but he miscalculated his kick and wasted the effort.
When their opponents were struggling to bounce back into the tie, the Black Stars increased their tally to 2-0.
Gyan clipped the ball to the back post to find winger Christian Atsu, who managed to control the ball, rode a challenge and poked the ball into the bottom corner of the post in the 23rd minute.
Ghana continued to dominate the game more with the Nigeriens unable to score a single goal until the referee signified the end of the first half.
On resuming for the second half of the one sided encounter, Ghana’s Atsu was brought down wide on their right flank, and the Black Stars picked up a free kick in a dangerous area. Daouda however managed to deal with a Gyan header from the free-kick, but he didn’t pounce on the second ball, allowing John Boye to slam home the third goal for the Black Stars in the 49th minute.
The scoreline remained 3-0 in favour of the Black Stars till end of the match, leaving Niger to crash out of the AFCON with just a point in three matches. Niger and their fans would leave South Africa first thing on Tuesday morning.
The second Group B match had barely started when Diba was brought down in the box by Mohamed Sissoko, and the Congolese were awarded a penalty in the 2nd minute.
Dieumerci Mbokani put the ball into the top corner of the post to put DR Congo a goal ahead of Mali in the 3rd minute, leaving their ‘bum bum’ dancing goalkeeper, Robert Kidiaba to thrill the spectators with his unique celebration on the night.
The Malians however dashed the quarter final hope of the Congolese team, when they levelled score 1-1 in the 14th minute. Adama Tamboura got down the line and crossed the ball at a tight angle for Mamadou Samassa, who calmly slotted the ball behind goalkeeper Kidiaba.
All efforts by the two teams to find the back of the net did not work till the referee blew the final whistle. Malian skipper, Seydou Keita and his teammates moved around to celebrate their qualification to the next round, while the coach Claude Le Roy-tutored DR Congo side bowed out of the tournament with just three points from three matches at this year’s AFCON.