At the bottom of the abyss a week earlier, the Ivorians signed an exploit to eliminate Senegal, defending champion, on penalties. The Elephants stay alive in “their” CAN.
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Like the day before, the evening of the African Cup of Nations stretched until the penalty shootout between Senegal and Ivory Coast, Monday January 29, for the rest of the round of 16 of the competition .
In this game, the Elephants, who came very close to elimination in the pools, were the strongest at home (1-1, 5-4 in the tabs). The host country will meet Mali or Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals on Saturday (6 p.m.). Earlier, Cape Verde eliminated Mauritania (1-0) and will face Morocco or South Africa in the next round.
Ivory Coast is reborn and eliminates the Senegalese champion
Who could have predicted such a scenario? At the bottom of the hole just a week ago after its humiliation at home against Equatorial Guinea (0-4), Ivory Coast will see the quarter-finals of its CAN. Better still, the Elephants won this ticket by defeating Senegal, the reigning champion and uncompromising group winner (1-1, 5-4 on penalties). Now led by Emerse Faé, after the departure of Jean-Louis Gasset in the middle of the competition, the Ivorians triumphed during a session marked by the only failure of the Senegalese Moussa Niakhaté. They will meet Mali or Burkina Faso in the quarters, who face each other on Tuesday (6 p.m.).
Ivory Coast once again experienced a small miracle, since it was led from the start and until the 86th minute, before a penalty converted with composure by Franck Kessié after a foul by Édouard Mendy (86th, 1-1). Dominant but ineffective for a long time, the Elephants were surprised by a good cross from Sadio Mané, upon reception of which ex-Strasbourg player Habib Diallo catapulted the ball into the net (4th, 0-1).
But the Lions of Teranga, although impressive so far in this CAN, then left the ball to the Ivorians and retreated. Senegal, with its very rich squad, falls from a height and perpetuates the curse of the outgoing champions: since Egypt in 2010, the last seven title holders have all been eliminated before the quarter-finals.
Cape Verde, first
Winner of Mauritania (1-0), Cape Verde won a direct elimination match for the first time in its CAN history. The thrilling team of the first round was much less dashing against a very compact block, but finally escaped with a penalty converted by ex-Lille player Ryan Mendes at the end of the match (88th). Solid until then, the Mauritanians will regret this avoidable mistake by goalkeeper Babacar Niasse, put in a bad situation by a risky delivery from his defender Yassin El Welly.
All the more regrettable as previously, Mauritania was intractable defensively and could even have opened the scoring. But on arrival, the Mourabitounes did not target a single shot and let the Cape Verdeans reach the quarters for the second time in their history, after 2013, a time when the round of 16 did not exist. They will meet Morocco or South Africa on Saturday (9 p.m.), who face each other on Tuesday (9 p.m.).