The last round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations on Tuesday brought a major surprise: Morocco fell to the realism of South Africa (2-0). In the other match, Mali won against its neighbor, Burkina Faso (2-1). The quarter-final table is now complete, and several favorites are missing.
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The program of the day
This is the third rest day of this CAN 2024.
Read alsoFind the table for the final phase
What happened yesterday
Mali wins the neighbors’ duel: Mali dominated Burkina Faso (2-1) to reach the quarter-finals. The Burkinabè paid cash for their failed starts: they conceded a goal in the 3rd minute… scored against their camp by Tapsoba, their best defender. Then, upon returning from the locker room, Lassine Sinayoko drove home the second nail for Mali.
The Lions of the Atlas did not roar : Morocco, which was one of the favorites for the final victory of the CAN, fell in San Pedro against the realism of South Africa (2-0). Bafana Bafana knew how to bide their time to take the advantage and widen the gap in stoppage time. Meanwhile, the Atlas Lions missed the equalizer on a penalty from Hakimi in the last minutes, and Amrabat was expelled shortly after. When nothing goes right…
In short
Exit the 2022 semi-finalists: the round of 16 will have been terrible for the teams who hosted the previous CAN. The entire final four of the 2022 edition – Senegal, Egypt, Cameroon and Burkina Faso – have gone by the wayside. It is also the seventh consecutive time that the CAN title holder has not seen the quarter-finals of the following edition.
Renewal is now: another exceptional statistic, going back to the quarter-finalists of the 2022 edition. None of them are there this year. The African plateau is getting higher and higher and the level is tightening, and it’s not any worse.
Exit the Globalists: it’s the CAN of surprises and massacres. The five teams that played in the World Cup in Qatar have already left the competition. Tunisia and Ghana were eliminated in the 1st round, like at the World Cup. Cameroon, Senegal and especially Morocco, semi-finalist on the global scene, were all shown the exit from the eighth. Hard, hard, to be a favorite.
The CAN news
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Today’s statement
We continue with the Senegalese “seum”, this time from Krepin Diatta, defender of Senegal, bitter after his elimination by the Ivory Coast: “You killed us, you are corrupt! Keep your African Cup ! You go to see the VAR to give a penalty (to Ivory Coast), but a guy (the Senegalese Ismaïla Sarr) who takes the ball 40 meters and does a ride, enters the area, and there you don’t want to go watch the VAR? I’m sorry but this is overkill. I’m really sorry but they killed our competition.”
Read also“We go out with our heads held high”: the Senegalese disappointed after their elimination
