By Akinwale Kasali
This is a dream year for Gambian football.
It has never had it this rosy in its African football history. In its maiden edition at the Continental showpiece, against all odds, the Gambian team has made it to the Quarter Final stage of the 33rd Edition of the African Cup of Nations.
Grouped alongside Tunisia, Mali and Mauritania in Limbe, Cameroon, the Scorpions of Gambia proved their mettle as no pushovers Despite being debutants, it defeated Mauritania, Tunisia and played a 1-1 draw against the Eagles of Mali.
The coordination among the players is second to none. The compactness from the goalkeeper to the defense, midfield and attack have been top notch, and this played out in their Round of 16 triumph against a highly rated Syli Nationale of Guinea.
Gambia is set to battle host, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in a fierce Quarterfinal match at the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with the host enjoying a massive support from their home crowd whoch could be intimidating to the lowly rated West African Country, but regardless of the outcome of the match, the Gambians would be proud to have come this far.
The National Thunder Football team of Equatorial Guinea surprisingly, booked a place in the Quarter Final with a hard fought penalty shoot out win against the Eagles of Mali at the Limbe stadium, after 120 minutes of action with both teams deadlocked, it took penalties to separate both team with Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper, Dennis Owono saving three spot kicks.
Equatorial Guinea like Gambia came into this tournament as one of the whipping boys in Group E that comprises of Desert Warriors of Algeria, the Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire and the Lone Stars of Sierra Leone, but they sprung up surprises putting the football enclave in a fix.
After a 1-0 loss to Côte d’Ivoire in their first match, a more determined Equatorial Guinea side defeated AFCON defending Champion, Algeria 1-0 and Sierra Leone by same margin to garnered Six points, ousting Algeria out of the tournament and booking a slot in the knockout phase.
The National Thunder team are average players who play mostly in Portugal and Spain, but they have been able to play as a Unit.
On Sunday 30th January, 2022, the Equatorial Guinea side will face the Teranga Lions of Senegal who managed to defeat Nine-Man Blue Sharks of Cape Verde 2-0.
Senegal has played below expectations at this tournament registering just Three goals in the Four games played so far in this tournament with Sadio Mane registering Two goals from their 1-0 win over the Warriors of Zimbabwe and Cape Verde, their Bamba Dieng strike in the knockout stage.
The Senegalese team drew two matches in the Group stage, playing a 0-0 draw against Malawi and Guinea, with their solitary strike against Zimbabwe their only win in the Group stage.
The Pharaohs of Egypt have also marched on in the AFCON 2021 tournament, defeating Côte d’Ivoire 5-4 on penalties after playing goalless all through the 120 minutes of action.
The Mohammed Salah led Egypt team are set to face Coach Vahid Halilhodvic Atlas Lions of Morocco, who defeated the Flames of Malawi 2-1 in their Round of 16 contest.
Goals from En Nesyri and a stunning free kick from Achraf Hakimi was all the North African needed to cancel out Gabadinho Mhango strike for Malawi.
Morocco have been in superb form at this tournament scoring Seven goals enroute the Quarter Finals.
Having recorded a 1-0 win over Black Stars of Ghana, 2-0 win over the Coelacanths of Comoros and a 2-2 draw with the Panthers of Gabon, the Halilhodvic side have not looked back.
It will be a North African affair when both teams square up against each other in a fierce battle on Sunday.
The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia that eliminated the high rated Super Eagles of Nigeria will be hoping to continue their fairytale run at the tournament when they play the Stallions of Burkina Faso in the first Quarter Final.
Tunisia qualified to the knockout phase as one of the Third Best Place team and will be aiming to have a solo run over the Burkinabes who are gunning for the AFCON glory that has eluded them.
Burkina Faso came close to wining the AFCON tournament in 2013 but were denied by the Super Eagles of Nigeria. With some of the stronger soccer powers in the Continent already out, Burkina Faso will come all out in achieving success against a depleted Tunisia team that has over 12 players on isolation after contracting COVID-19.
The weekend promised to be a cracker in the AFCON tournament as the remaining Eight teams battle one another for the coveted AFCON trophy.
