Abidjan (AFP)
Tunisia suffered a shocking and “painful” loss to Namibia 0-1 at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo, in the first round of the fifth group competitions of the African Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire.
Namibia translated its great advantage during the two halves of the match with a late goal scored by Dion Hutto (89), achieving the first victory ever for the team known as the “Brave Warriors” in the history of their participation in the tournament.
After a cross from the “substitute” Muzio Muzio, the dangerous Hutto, who penetrated behind the Tunisian defense, was able to score the net with a strong and precise header, which Ben Said was unable to stop (89). Tunisia then launched several attacks, but was unable to change the result.
In the same group, Mali began its journey by defeating South Africa 2-0 in a match that began with the latter missing a penalty kick through Percy Tau (19), and paid the price in the second half by receiving two goals from Hamare Traoré (60) and Lassine Senayoko (66).
Coach Jalal Al-Qadri said in television statements after the match, “A painful defeat. We apologize to our fans for this result, and in the first half we found great difficulty, a bad first half by all standards.”
Sheffield United's English striker Anis Ben Slimane said, “We played much better in the second half, but we should have been more intense from the first minute.”
In the next round, Tunisia will play Mali on January 20, while Namibia will play against South Africa the next day.
In the fourth group, Burkina Faso started its campaign with a fatal victory over Mauritania 1-0 from a penalty kick at the Al Salam Stadium in Bouake.
The goal came in the sixth minute of stoppage time from a penalty kick, executed by substitute Bertrand Traoré, which put the “Horses” in the lead with three points, two points behind Algeria and Angola, which tied 1-1 on Monday.
This is the sixth loss in seven matches for the Mauritanian national team, in its third consecutive participation in the continental tournament, during which it scored an orphan goal that came from a penalty kick.
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