Baghdad Bounedjah’s shot took a huge deflection off Salif Sane and looped over goalkeeper Alfred Gomes.

Senegal, who have never won the competition, were awarded a penalty for handball in the second half but it was overturned after a VAR review.

Algeria closed out the rest of the game to win their first title since 1990.

Senegal’s players collapsed on the pitch in tears at the final whistle.

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, who said before the game he would swap his Champions League winners medal for Africa Cup of Nations success, looked disconsolate as Algeria players celebrated around him.

Senegal, making only their second appearance in the final since 2002, dominated for large periods but struggled to make the most of their possession.

M’Baye Niang was at the centre of two of their best chances as he flashed a fierce drive over the bar just before the break, and rounded keeper Rais M’bolhi early in the second half only to shoot wide from a tight angle.

M’Bolhi also did well to palm over a stinging effort from Youssouf Sabaly.

The decisive moment for Senegal was the reversal of the decision to award a penalty on the hour mark.

Ismaila Sarr’s cross was blasted straight at Adlene Guedioura’s arm, referee Neant Alioum pointed to the spot, but, just as the Senegal players started celebrating the decision, he quickly indicated that a VAR review was under way.

After watching the replays on the pitch-side monitor, which clearly showed Guedioura’s arm being by his side, Alioum reversed the decision.

Although the decision was correct, the result was harsh on Senegal, with Algeria managing only one shot on goal.

Premier League stars fail to shine

The game was billed by many as a battle between Liverpool’s Mane and Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez, but both were on the periphery of this encounter.

Mahrez’s lack of contribution was largely down to Algeria’s defensive approach after taking the lead, but Mane will perhaps be disappointed with his input.

He was clearly the player Algeria fans feared most – every touch of the ball was met with boos – but he showed only glimpses of his pace and danger on the ball, possibly showing the signs of fatigue following a long season for club and country.

It is 363 days since Mane began pre-season with Liverpool – and he will only have a couple of weeks rest before the new campaign gets under way on 9 August.

Source: BBC

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Ighalo, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, tapped in after keeper Moez Ben Cherifia deflected the ball off his own defender Yassine Meriah.

In a slow-paced game between the two losing semi-finalists in Cairo, Tunisia went close as Ferjani Sassi and Ghaylene Chaalali shot wide.

Three-time winners Nigeria have now finished third eight times.

Tunisia, champions in 2004, needed a finger-tip save from Cherifia to deny Samuel Chukwueze in the second half and the keeper was called on again in injury time to acrobatically save Samuel Kalu’s free-kick.

Senegal will look for their first Afcon title when they face 1990 winners face Algeria in Friday’s final.

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Both sides had penalties saved in normal time before Bronn inadvertently headed the only goal of the game.

Mouez Hassen tipped Sadio Mane’s free-kick onto Bronn’s head as Senegal – who face Algeria or Nigeria – moved a step closer to their first Afcon title.

Tunisia had a late penalty award overturned by VAR.

Senegal dominated the first half, producing seven shots to Tunisia’s two, with Mane spurning their best opportunity when he missed an open goal.

Tunisia improved after the interval and were awarded a penalty when Ferjani Sassi’s effort struck Kalidou Koulibaly’s arm, but Sassi’s spot-kick lacked power and direction and was saved by Alfred Gomis.

Four minutes later Senegal were given a penalty of their own when Ismaila Sarr was brought down by Bronn, but Henri Saivet’s shot was kept out by Hassen.

The Tunisia goalkeeper then inadvertently gifted victory to Senegal, who will be without influential captain Koulibaly for the final as he is suspended.

Source: BBC

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Samuel Chukwueze hit the opener as he controlled Alex Iwobi’s cross, before scoring at the second attempt.

Bongani Zungu equalised with a header initially ruled out for offside before VAR replays showed a free-kick hit a Nigerian player on the way to him.

But Udinese’s Troost-Ekong bundled home from close range late on to win it.

His finish was into an empty net after goalkeeper Ronwen Williams totally missed Moses Simon’s corner.

Nigeria face Ivory Coast or Algeria in Sunday’s second semi-final (20:00 BST).

The Super Eagles were deserved winners and led through Villarreal youngster Chukwueze’s first goal for his country. They should have been ahead by more when Williams pushed Peter Etebo’s free-kick onto the bar.

Zungu’s goal was the first in the Africa Cup of Nations given by the VAR, which has just been introduced for the quarter-finals. It looked offside initially but Percy Tau’s free-kick hit Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo on the way on to Amiens midfielder Zungu’s head.

The game looked set for extra time before Williams flapped at a cross to leave Troost-Ekong with a simple finish.

Senegal, who beat Benin 1-0 earlier on Wednesday, play either Madagascar or Tunisia in the other semi-final.

Everyone thought it was offside – analysis

BBC World Service’s Nick Cavell at the Cairo International Stadium

Probably the correct result in the end.

All three goals were quite scrappy. The first one for Chukwueze took a deflection.

Then South Africa’s equaliser thanks to the VAR decision, which was a bit of history here. Everyone in the stadium thought it was offside – that was what the linesman flagged for – but the replay proved VAR was useful, correct and worth doing because it proved the ball had come off Ighalo and not Thulani Hlatshwayo, and so it stood.

But South Africa didn’t do enough to win this – they were caught between trying to pump it long and trying to pass it around a very solid Nigerian defence.

And it was Troost-Ekong who was at the heart of that defence and scored the winner. Nigeria had class through the side though – Iwobi had another outstanding game, as did Etebo and Chukwueze.

Source: BBC

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Gueye started and finished a move which saw Liverpool’s Sadio Mane tee up his team-mate to score in Cairo.

The Video Assistant Referee system has been introduced from the quarter-final stage and Mane had two goals disallowed for offside after VAR checks.

Benin’s Olivier Verdon was sent off near the end for a foul on Gueye.

• Afcon 2019: Why the heat is a hot topic

Before Gueye’s goal, his first in Egypt, Benin – who had reached this stage without winning a match in normal time – almost took the lead after a horrific mistake by keeper Alfred Gomis.

He mis-controlled a routine back-pass, the ball spinning off his boot before going narrowly wide of his own post.

But Gueye’s goal means Senegal are two wins from winning the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time.

Aliou Cisse’s team will meet minnows Madagascar or Tunisia in the semi-finals on Sunday in Cairo.

Source: BBC

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The fixtures are as follows;

05.07.2019 Al Salam Stadium Morocco vs Benin

05.07.2019 Cairo Stadium Uganda vs Senegal

06.07.2019 Alexandria Stadium Nigeria vs Cameroon

06.07.2019 Cairo Stadium Egypt vs South Africa

07.07.2019 Alexandria Stadium Madagascar vs DR Congo

07.07.2019 June 30 Stadium Algeria vs Guinea

08.07.2019 Suez Stadium Mali vs Cote d’Ivoire

08.07.2019 Ismailia Stadium Ghana vs Tunisia

Source: cafonline.com

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Source: ghanasportsonline.com

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The islanders continued writing their beautiful story at the Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Egypt 2019, remaining unbeaten in the group stage matches to finish on seven points. They will meet one of the four best placed number three teams in the last 16.

With the defeat, Nigeria finish second and will meet the second placed team from Group F in Alexandria next weekend. Elsewhere in Cairo, Guinea beat Burundi 2-0 in the other Group B clash. Guinea has four points and is hoping to finish as one of the four best third placed teams.

Madagascar went to the break a goal up, and deservedly so. They had been more patient in the build-up, stuck to their shape and when they had an opportunity, broke on the counter.

They were handed a gift on a golden platter by Balogun who fumbled with a pass before Nomenjanahary pounced and rounded keeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa to break the deadlock after just 12 minutes.

Ezenwa was coming in for his first match being among the changes effected by coach Gernot Rohr from the 1-0 win against Guinea. Others who came in were skipper John Obi Mike, William Troost Ekong, Samuel Kalu and John Ogu.

In a slow start to the game, Nigeria had the first sniff at goal in the eighth minute when Ahmed Musa’s freekick from the edge of the box after Odion Ighalo was fouled going over.

In the 18th minute, six after they had conceded, Nigeria came close when Kalu picked the ball on the right before making an attempt with a curling effort off his left boot that went just wide.

On the half hour mark, Romain Metanire made a superb tackle to poke the ball off Musa’s feet as he prepared to tap into an empty net after the winger had picked up a cross inside the box before rounding the keeper.

Nigeria started the second half with Rohr making a switch, Ogu coming off for Wilfred Ndidi who had been rested.

But, Madagascar were not about to have their backs against the wall and eight minutes into the second half, when Andriamahitsinoro stood behind a freekick, it was all sealed. He curled the ball beautifully and it deflected on the end of the wall before dipping past Ezenwa.

Nigeria sought to give an immediate reply and Ndidi came close with a shot on the half turn that went straight into the keeper’s arms. In the 65th minute, Etebo had a chance with a freekick, but he hit it slightly over the bar.

Rohr made more changes, Alex Iwobi coming on for Mikel while Kalu paved way for Moses Simon. But, the die was cast and the jury was out, The Barea kept their three points.

What they said:

Madagascar coach Nicolas Dupuis:

I am so delighted because of how we played today. I am very proud of my players and I would like to congratulate them for this result. It was a job well done and this is a big victory for us.

I was happy when I learned about the groups because we were playing good teams and we had a chance to prove ourselves. I am happy that we did.

Lalaina Nomenjanahary, goal scorer Madagascar

This is a proud day for every Madagascar player and all the people back at home. We were saddened with the tragedy that happened on the Independence Day and we wanted to give the Malagasy people a gift.

We are pleased and more so to finish top of this group and beating a big team like Nigeria.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr

We lost to a good team because Madagascar was the first to qualify for the tournament and there is no shame in losing to such a team.

Madagascar was the better team today. We started with giving them a gift and after, we could not find a solution. We made five changes because we wanted to give rest to some players and also preserve those with cards.

Sometimes it happens when you are already qualified; the players are relaxed and playing easy.

Nigeria striker Odion Ighalo:

I think this is a wake up call for us, today, we played very poorly, we were relaxed and our mentality was not very good. Probably it is because we were already qualified but this game has shown us that there is no easy team in this competition.

We have to go back, regroup and ensure we do well for the next game which is a match with no room for mistakes.

Source: cafonline.com

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Ghana has some good advantage among the teams participating in this Afcon given the somewhat underdogs status they are accorded in spite of their pedigree and quality.

Looking at the other big guns like Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Algeria, Tunisia and Cameroun, the Black Stars have a better cohesion and experience among the squad, the core of the team having been around for sometime.

Most of Ghana’s squad have played together in four different tournaments and now know the strengths and weaknesses of one another.

The likes of Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew played at Afcon 2008 in Ghana and since then the duo have played in every other competition together.

Playmaker Kwadwo Asamoah emerged in 2010 at the World Cup in South Africa and although he took a break from international football he has played alongside majority of the team. Others like Christian Atsu, John Boye, Jordan Ayew have had four tournaments together, including their collective appearance at the 2014 World Cup.

The relatively new faces have at least played in the various qualifiers and friendlies with the old teammates.

Ghana has been at the last four Afcon tournaments with impressive showing. Indeed, since 2008, Ghana has always reached at least the last four – the semi-finals – and this could be the time to lay hands on the ultimate.

The great Samuel Eto’o was in Ghana some years back and had one simple question for former President of the Ghana Football Association, Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, during an interaction with the press. He asked: “How does Ghana always get into the last four of every Nations Cup since 2008?” He wanted to know the secret.

It looks quite interesting that Ghana’s chances are not because of any external ‘enhancements’. Senegal, for instance, has had players switching nationality from France to Senegal over the years when the players realise they had very low chances of representing France.

Players like Sabaly, Kalidou Koulibaly, Niang switched from France to Senegal in 2015 just as Keita Balde who is Spanish by birth but has switched to Senegal recently.

Senegal’s Afcon performances have not been too impressive over the years, but now with their golden generation of talent led by the tireless Sadio Mane, they look to win the country’s first Afcon title.

The Terranga Lions do not look to have too much of tournament experience as a group, and it could be their weakness. What they have is the individual collection of players, and it may take more tourneys for them to gel.

Côte d’Ivoire, the 1992 and 2015 champions, has always been blessed with talent over the years, and the current squad appears to be even better than the previous years, in my opinion. The team has players who are leaders at their various teams in Europe and elsewhere.

Wilfried Zaha, Cornet, Nicholas Pepe, Jean Michael Seri, Kessie and others are the rising stars of their generation.

Nicholas Pepe is being pursued by Barcelona and Liverpool in the current transfer window and is also a top priority for most top European clubs after he led Lille of France to the second position in this year’s Ligue 1, chalking up a famous 5-1 win at home over PSG in the process.

These are great players, but as a team they also have the same problem as Senegal.

These are individual players who will want to do it all on their own if they have the ball. Zaha, for instance, has shown great quality at club level in England, the country to whom he once pledged his international allegiance, and look to be in shape to atone for the almost anonymous Nations Cup debut he had in 2017 when he switched from England to Cote d’Ivoire.

At that tournament, his style was very European and failed to work against the more robust African players; he was hardly successful with his dribbling skills.

Most of their squad will be participating in their first Nations Cup tournament, and if they are to go far they will have to learn how to play as a team.

Egos may run through that beautiful assemblage, but they must be able to deal with it.

Morocco as well has more players switching from France and The Netherlands to play for their country of origin. Hakim Ziyech is their best player by far this season coming into this competition.

They showed at the 2018 World Cup how terryfing they could be after earning a famous 2-2 draw with 2010 world champions Spain, a game they should have won. Their European style does not ultimately favour them at the Nations Cup, and they have lost two friendly games going into the tournament, 1-0 to Burundi and 3-2 to Zambia.

But those were just friendly games so, as we say in Ghanaian parlance, let’s watch how they fare. Maybe Egypt 2019 will prove favourable to them this time around due to the North African atmosphere.

Algeria falls in similar category with Morocco, with the likes of Andy Delort of Montpellier switching from France to Algeria. He scored recently in their 3-2 win over Mali in Doha last Sunday.

Algerian players are easily frustrated when decisions do not go their way, and it tends to destroy their focus on the game.

They are blessed with loads of talents from all angles, but their European approach to an African tournament has not helped over the years.

Most of their national team selections overlook their locally based players, and the few of them in the team just warm the bench.

Our Black Stars should see themselves as favourites to this tournament and go in there with the mentality to win. In terms of experience and team cohesion the Stars have it more than any other team.

Ghanaians cannot brace themselves for a shocker, and the 37-year wait for this trophy must come to an end here in Egypt.
Captain Andre Ayew won the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, and he will look to lift another title with the senior side on a soil that evokes fond memroies for Ghanaians.

Author:  Ebenezer Nene Korley Azu-Mate

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Second half substitute Odion Ighalo scored the only goal after 77 minutes in Alexandria with a curled finish past Burundi goalkeeper Jonathan Nahimana.

Burundi – the lowest-ranked side at the tournament – had struck the crossbar in the first half through defender Frederic Nsabiyumva’s looping header.

Guinea face Madagascar in the other Group B match later on Saturday.

• What to look out for at the Africa Cup of Nations
• What can we expect from day two in Egypt?

FC Midtjylland striker Paul Onuachu had Nigeria’s first real chance on goal after 12 minutes as his header forced Burundi goalkeeper Jonathan Nahimana in to action.

Burundi, 134th in the world standings, remained unfazed and Cedric Amissi’s close-range shot required a good save from Nigeria’s Daniel Akpeyi.

Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi and Villarreal 20-year-old Samuel Chukwueze offered the Super Eagles’ main attacking threat, but Gernot Rohr’s side were frustrated by a resolute and organised Burundi side – captained by Stoke City striker Saido Berahino – until Ighalo’s introduction.

The Shanghai Greenland Shenhua striker, formerly of Watford, produced a quality finish just four minutes after entering the field, following Ola Aina’s delightful back-heeled pass.

Nigeria were without striker Samuel Kalu, who had been taken to hospital after suffering from “severe dehydration” in training on Friday – a day after players’ union Fifpro had called for the tournament organisers to increase their planned number of heat breaks from two to four per match.

The Super Eagles now face Guinea on Wednesday (15:30 BST), while Burundi take on fellow debutants Madagascar on Thursday (15:30).

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