Garoua – Cameroon Jan 24 (BNA): Nigeria’s 100% record in the group stage means nothing as Tunisia lost 1-0 in the CAN Round of 16.
Youssef Msakni’s low and skewed shot after the break was the only goal, leaving Nigerian players to fall back on the field in disappointment at the end, The Associated Press reported.
Nigeria’s task became even more difficult when Everton’s Alex Iwobi was shown a straight red card for tricking him under Msakni’s ankle in the 66th minute. Iwobi was sent off seven minutes after arriving as a substitute.
Nigeria emerged as the number one contender for the title having been the only team to win all the group matches. Tunisia lost twice in the group stage and went on as one of the top third-placed teams but sealed off Nigeria in a critical match in Garoua on the first day of the knockout stage.
“We let them get a foothold in the game,” said Joe Aribo of Nigeria. “We can’t take anything from them, but we should have been better.”
Tunisia accomplished the task without coach Mondher Kabir, who was isolated in his hotel room instead of standing on the sidelines after testing positive for the Corona virus.
Tunisia will play Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals.
Burkina Faso beat Gabon on penalties in Limbe earlier on Sunday and hours after rebel soldiers took control of their country’s military base in Burkina Faso, raising fears of a coup attempt.
Substitute Ismael Ouadraogo scored the decisive penalty and Burkina Faso won on penalties 7-6 to finally overpower Gabon’s brave goal.
Burkina Faso led 1-0, and a Gabon man was sent off in the 67th minute. But Gabon, made up of 10, equalized in stoppage time with an own goal by Burkina Faso midfielder Adama Guerra to send the game into overtime.
He stayed 1-1 during overtime.
Burkina Faso had two chances to win on penalties after Gabon players missed. But the Burkina Faso players rose and failed as well.
Ouédraogo’s winning penalty kick was the eighteenth from the penalty shootout. And he scored a goal after Lloyd Balloon from Gabon hit the post to lose his team for the third and final time.
Burkina Faso were leading 1-0 in regular time through a first-half goal by captain Bertrand Traore when Gabon defender Sydney Obesa was sent off just over 20 minutes ago to earn a second yellow card.
Obesa blatantly pulled the Burkina Faso striker by his shirt and off the ball as the Burkina Faso side slid forward.
It was a miserable day for Obesa, who picked up his first yellow card when he missed an early penalty with a push on Burkina Faso’s Issa Kabore at the edge of the area.
Traore missed this penalty early in the match, but made up for it after 10 minutes when he ran on a through ball and hit his shot under Gabon goalkeeper Jean-Noel Amonomy, who ran out.
The ball cut through the interior of the post and entered, and Traore jumped over billboards and ran across an athletics track to celebrate in front of a giant Burkina Faso flag in the crowd.
Chasing the match when trailing 1-0, Gabon’s ten men survived dangerously after Obesa walked in but lifted themselves for a final goal from a corner kick in the first minute of injury time and rebounding to a header from Gabon captain Bruno Equél Manga. Guerra enters his own net to take her into overtime.
Hosts Cameroon play Comoros for the first time in the Round of 16 on Monday, when it looks like Comoros will have to field a player off the field as goalkeeper due to a virus outbreak in their squad.
Guinea plays Gambia, another newcomer, in the other match.