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The Herald
YAOUNDE – Mali and host Cameroon secured places for the quarterfinals of the African Nations Championship and a player from Zimbabwe was substituted 149 seconds into the first half when Group A ended on Sunday.
A Demba Diallo goal in the 11th minute gave Mali a 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe in the coastal city of Douala and first place in Group A with seven points from three games.
Cameroon, which hopes to become the second host country after Morocco to win the local players’ competition, drew 0-0 with Burkina Faso to finish runner-up with five points.
Burkina Faso ranked third with four points, while three defeats meant that Zimbabwe failed to score a point for the first time in five tournament appearances.
On Saturday, Mali will face the Group B runners-up in Yaoundé, while Cameroon will make a 153-mile (246-kilometer) trip to Douala to meet the Group B winners on the same day.
The two-time champion Democratic Republic of the Congo leads Group B four points clear of Monday’s final round, with Libya (three points), Niger (two) and Congo Brazzaville (one) all in contention.
While the Malians and Cameroonians celebrated their advance to the knockout phase and the Burkinabe regretted losing several scoring chances, the Zimbabwean Qadr Amin was the center of much attention.
When Zimbabwe received a free kick about 30 meters from Malian goalkeeper Djigui Diarra, Amin stood alongside designated set pieces specialist Tatenda Tavengwa.
But as Tavengwa prepared to shoot on target, Amin lunged forward and launched the deflected free kick to the apparent fury of Croatian Zimbabwe coach Zdravko Logarusic.
With just two minutes and 29 seconds left in the first half, the fourth official raised the electronic substitute board, indicating that Amin would be replaced by Ian Nekati.
A dejected Amin left after making an unwanted story as the Zimbabwean to spend the least time on the field before being substituted in a Nations Championship match.
Logarusic was successful at the last Nations Championship in 2018, guiding outsiders Sudan to third place behind champion Morocco and runner-up Nigeria.
In Yaoundé, Burkina Faso needed maximum points to qualify and besieged the Cameroonian goal in the early stages without converting several times.
Mohamed Ouattara should at least have hit the target with a cross instead of shooting wide and Ismahila Ouedraogo wasted another good opportunity to put the Burkinabe ahead.
The failures proved costly, as Cameroon shed early nerves and tied Burkina Faso in a spirited second half. – AFP
