AFCON: Upsets Continue As South Africa Stun Morocco 2 – 0

• Mali surge past Burkina Faso 2 – 1

South Africa’s Bafana Bafana on Tuesday night continued in the interesting tradition of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire by producing one of the major upsets 2023 in knocking Morocco’s Atlas Lions out of the tournament with a 2-0 victory in their round of 16 clash.

From a goalless first half where both sides created very few goalscoring opportunities and the Moroccans got the best chance but saw their goal disallowed by the VAR, the second 45 minutes proved more business-like with lots of drama and the goals that ultimately separated the two sides.

Forward Evidence Makgopa opened the scores for South Africa in the 57th minute when he connected to a pass inside the 18-yard box and the the ball deliciously rested in the bottom right corner of the Moroccans’ net.

Pushing men forward hoping to save the day, the Atlas Lions were awarded a penalty in the 83rd minute when the ball hit Teboho Mokoena’s hands in the South African 18-yard box. After the VAR review confirmed the penalty, Achraf Hakimi saw his effort crashing into the crossbar and bouncing out of play.

Though the pressure was still on, the Moroccans suffered a huge blow when Sofyan Amrabat was shown the red card following his challenge on Mokoena being the last man. Amrabat initially got a second yellow, but this was upgraded to a straight red after a VAR review by referee Mahmood Ismail

And taking advantage of their numerical advantage, Coach Hugo Bross’ men added the second goal to seal the game, courtesy of a superb free kick by Teboho Mokoena.

South Africa will play Cape Verde on Saturday, February 3 at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro in the quarter-finals.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

Hugo Bross – South Africa Coach: “In the first half, we tried to contain them and cut off their passing lines. In the second, the game opened up and we scored. We knew that whoever scores first in the match will have a big advantage.”

Walid Regragui – Morocco Coach: “We fought until the end with our weapons. I am disappointed for our supporters who deserved much better. I felt we were capable of bringing this cup home. But that didn’t happen. I hope my players will learn, especially the younger ones.”

Mali Go Past Burkina Faso In Thrilling Encounter

In the first match of the day, the Eagles of Mali are through to this year’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals after a nail-biting 2-1 win over Burkina Faso on Tuesday in Korhogo.

A calamitous own goal by Edmond Tabsoba along with a second-half strike by Lassine Sinayoko were enough for the Eagles to soar over the Stallions in the match played inside a packed Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium.

Three minutes were all the Malians needed to open scoring after a powerful Amadou Haidara header came off the woodwork, only for defender, Tabsoba to unfortunately guide the ball past his keeper for an own goal.

Taking their slender lead into the break after a series of wasted opportunities, the Malians returned for the second half to continue tormenting their opponents and in the process, Sinayoko capitalized on a lapse of concentration to beat the offside trap and comfortably slot home with just minutes of the restart.

However, the Stallions got a lifeline when Mohamed Konate’s headed effort came off the arm of Boubacar Kouyate for VAR to award the penalty that was converted by skipper, Bertrand Traore in the 57th minute.

With the Eagles soaring into the quarter-finals of the continental tournament, a tough clash against the host nation, Cote d’Ivoire awaits them on Saturday, February 3 in Bouake.

Quotes From the Coaches

Hubert Velud – Burkina Faso Coach: “I honestly have no one to blame. We lost against a better side. Mali have good players. We got some opportunities but also introduced new players. I was not surprised by the quality of this team. Very good quality with top-level midfielders. Offensively, we saw a great team from Mali and we credit them.

“We will digest this defeat. We have to review and analyze the good and the bad during our time here. The AFCON is very open for anyone to win. It is one of the best AFCONS in terms of football and organisation. It is unfortunate that we will not participate any further”.

Eric Chelle – Mali Coach: “We need to be humble in our victory and continue with hard work. I am very happy for the players. They deserve the victory because they are a group of hard workers. I think the victory was well deserved but the lesson learnt is that 2-0 can be a dangerous score against a determined team.

“I have some friends and former teammates in our next opponent so this will also be an interesting fixture for me. We know that it will be difficult against them, but we will bring our quality and give it our best against them. I want to emphasise the importance of humility in this victory”.