Les Ghanéens, qui terminent en tête de la poule, affronteront la Tunisie, tandis que les Maliens joueront contre le Gabon.

Jeune Afrique.

Les violences ont éclaté au 17ème jour du championnat national, lorsque l’arbitre a sifflé la fin du match. Selon des témoins, c’est à ce moment que les supporteurs de l’équipe gagnante Al-Masry ont investi le terrain de foot. Ils ont commencé à lancer des pierres, des bouteilles et des fusées contre leurs rivaux de l’équipe d’Al-Ahly, l’un des meilleurs clubs d’Egypte.

Parmi les morts, il n’y aurait non seulement des supporters, mais aussi des policiers. Des policiers, qui sont accusés sur des blogs égyptiens d’avoir été incapables de stopper les violences. Bien au contraire : ils auraient retiré les barrières entre les groupes rivaux, ce qui a apparemment empiré les affrontements.

Pour l’heure, des joueurs restent encore bloqués dans le stade – l’armée égyptienne aurait envoyé des hélicoptères pour les évacuer.

Jeudi, le Parlement se réunira en séance extraordinaire pour évoquer ces violences.
La Fédération égyptienne de football a suspendu le championnat.

Et les Frères musulmans, eux, accusent les partisans de Moubarak d’être à l’origine de ces violences. « Les événements de Port-Saïd ont été planifiés et sont un message des partisans de l’ancien régime », peut-on lire sur le site internet du Parti de la liberté et de la justice (PLJ), la formation politique des Frères musulmans.

RFI

Le Soudan (4 points) prend la deuxième place du groupe B à la différence de buts devant l’Angola (0 contre -1) et derrière la Côte d’Ivoire (9 points), déjà qualifiée avant cette troisième journée et première équipe dans ce tournoi à réaliser un carton plein de trois victoires.

Jeune Afrique.

“I will not resign. The only certainty I have is that I want to continue with this team,” Traore told reporters after his side limped out of the tournament.

Senegal were one of the favourites to win the tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon but lost each game 2-1.

Their defeat in Bata on Sunday was a limp affair with their star-studded squad clearly shorn of confidence.

But Traore said there was no time to change the side before the World Cup qualifiers start in June.

He said rather that Senegal needed to continue with the current squad but correct mistakes made at the Nations Cup.

“These players cannot suddenly become zero,” he said.

Traore added that he accepted responsibility for the fiasco.

Former Belgian World Cup great Eric Gerets expressed a similar desire to stay in charge of Morocco after they were eliminated on Friday – the second of the favourites to suffer a shock early elimination.

Reuters.

Diakite, 23, had been allowed by Mali coach Alain Giresse to fly from Gabon, where he is playing in the African Nations Cup, to London to sign his contract.

“It will become a permanent transfer if the London club stay in the Premier League,” Nancy said in a statement.

QPR, who are two points above the Premier League relegation zone, will have to wait to see when Diakite can join them as it will depend on how far Mali get in the African Nations Cup which runs until February 12.

Mali are third in their four-team group with three points from two games, level on points with second-placed Guinea with one Group D game to play. The top two teams in a group go through to the quarter-finals.

Reuters.

Dépassés par l’enthousiasme du pays hôte, les hommes d’Hervé Renard, qu’on a connu plus alertes, ont tout simplement bafouillé leur football. Heureusement pour eux, la Libye n’a pas réussi à battre le Sénégal. La Guinée équatoriale et la Zambie sont donc qualifiés, la Libye et le Sénégal sont éliminés. Mauvaise nouvelle cependant pour les locaux, ils vont sans doute devoir se farcir la Côte d’Ivoire lors du prochain match.

Hanover, who beat Nuremberg 1-0 on Friday to remain in seventh place in the Bundesliga, are also in contention in the Europa League.

“I am happy that with Mame Diouf we have another alternative up front,” said Hanover coach Mirko Slomka. “We need to bring him in fast so he can help us in the Bundesliga and the Europa League.”

Senegal international Diouf joined United from Norwegian side Molde in 2009 and spent the 2010/11 season on loan at Blackburn Rovers.

Reuters.

“C’est un match décisif et à gagner, un nul ne nous arrangerait pas. Nous devons donc prendre des risques et ne pas être aussi prudents que face au Ghana”, assurait Stanley Tshosane avant la rencontre. 90 minutes plus tard, le sélectionneur des Zèbres pouvait faire la moue.

Car le Botswana, première équipe à avoir validé son billet pour la CAN 2012, est éliminé. Et, si les Zèbres sont, ce samedi soir, en train de faire leurs bagages, ils ne peuvent s’en prendre qu’à eux-mêmes. Trop naïfs, trop tendres, les joueurs de Tshosane n’ont pas fait le poids face à une équipe de Guinée toujours aussi joueuse mais qui a enfin réglé la mire. Car les hommes de Michel Dussuyer ont pris conscience de l’enjeu : battu par le Mali (1-0), le Syli se devait de s’imposer pour entretenir l’espoir d’un hypothétique quart de finale.

Patrick Motsepe expulsé

Et l’affaire a été rondement menée. En 45 minutes, Abdoulaye Siado Diallo (15e, 27e) frappait deux fois, suivi par Abdoul Razzagui Camara (42e) et Ibrahima Traoré (45e). Le but, sur penalty, de Diphetogo Selolwane (22e) n’avait qu’une valeur historique puisqu’il s’agit du premier but botswanais en phase finale de la Coupe d’Afrique. Le seul positif à retenir pour le Botswana dans un match à sens unique, Mamadou Bah (82e) et Nabi Soumah (87e) se permettant même d’enfoncer le clou.

Les chances du Botswana sont belles et bien enterrées, elles l’étaient de toute façon à la pause lors que le Syli menait 4-1 et que les Zèbres étaient déjà réduits à dix. La Guinée, convaincante et rafraîchissante, peut espérer se qualifier pour les quarts de finale de la CAN 2012. Mais cela passe par une victoire face au Ghana, le 1e février.

(Afrik.com)

Substitute Bruno Zita Mbanangoye curled in an exquisite free kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Gabon a shock 3-2 win over Morocco, eliminating one of the pre-tournament favourites.

The victory sparked wild celebrations in the Gabonese capital of Libreville where President Ali Bongo was among the jubilant 40,000 crowd.

Tunisia’s win also came from a substitute as Issam Jemaa gave them a 2-1 triumph over Niger who were knocked out.

Tunisia and Gabon each have six points from two games in Group C while Morocco and Niger are pointless.

Despite missing big guns such as Nigeria, Cameroon and Egypt, the tournament is turning into one of the liveliest in recent years and has yet to produce a one-sided match.

Equatorial Guinea, the other co-hosts, qualified in similarly dramatic circumstances on Wednesday, a 94th-minute goal giving them a 2-1 win over Senegal and a place in the last eight.

The dullest football has come from Ivory Coast who did the absolute minimum to win their opening games against Sudan and Burkina Faso.

In the second game of Friday’s double bill, Houcine Kharja gave Morocco a 24th-minute lead, which they kept until an astonishing last 15 minutes.

Just as he did in their 2-0 win over Niger, Gabon’s inspirational striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored one goal and created the second.

The Mohican-sporting St Etienne player rifled in an unstoppable volley to equalise in the 77th minute and two minutes later set up Daniel Cousin to score with a clinical finish.

The former Rangers, Hull City, Larissa and Le Mens player collected the ball with his back to goal, spun and placed his shot just inside the far post, prompting some celebrating fans to run on to the running track around the pitch.

The stadium was in raptures until Morocco, coached by former Belgium defender Eric Gerets, were awarded a penalty for handball against Charly Moussono in the 89th minute and Kharja converted for his second goal of the game.

POETIC JUSTICE

It was not over as Dinamo Minsk midfielder Mbanangoye’s free kick curled over the wall and inside the near post to clinch the game and send Gabon to the last eight for only the second time.

It also provided some poetic justice as the foul was awarded for a dreadful tackle by Mehdi Benatia who escaped with a yellow card when he should have been sent off.

The opening match quickly came to life with two goals in the opening seven minutes, one of them sublime and the other bizarre.

Tunisia’s left winger Youssef Msakni dribbled past four defenders before placing the ball past goalkeeper Daouda Kassaly after four minutes.

Niger were soon level when a long clearance into the Tunisia penalty area dropped with awkward back spin, fooling keeper Aymen Mathlouthi who was distracted by an attempt from Moussa Maazou to slap the ball which bounced on to the head of William Tonji Ngounou and into an empty net.

“It was important for us to our first goal of the tournament,” said the journeyman striker who plays in the Swedish third division.

The chances continued to flow, both teams hitting the woodwork, before Jemaa won it on the stroke of fulltime after cutting inside two defenders to power the ball home from close range.

Ghana, who scraped past Botswana 1-0 in their opening game, face Mali in Franceville on Saturday while Botswana play Guinea, both in Group D.

Reuters.

The Ivorians, apparently traumatised by their dramatic quarter-final exit at the hands of Algeria two years ago, managed a flattering 2-0 win over Burkina Faso on a steamy evening for their second straight win of the tournament.

Angola crawled back into their shell immediately after taking a 2-1 lead over Sudan early in the second half and had two players booked for time-wasting before their opponents deservedly equalised.

Despite this, coach Lito Vidigal was awarded the game’s fair play trophy although it was not explained why.

Angola, with four points from two games, need a draw against the Ivorians on Monday to qualify but if they lose, Sudan could overhaul them with a win against Burkina, who have no points and are eliminated.

Burkina’s fiery coach Paulo Duarte went out with a bang as he lambasted his federation over the failure to obtain clearance for three naturalised players.

“We lost three players just before the start because we didn’t manage to get them qualified,” said the fiery Portuguese, often known as the African Mourinho.

“That just can’t be allowed to happen, it’s unthinkable… it’s primitive.”

“On the field we play quality football, off the field there are successive errors. I haven’t decided if I will continue yet. That option is open to me but I’ll have to think about it.”

The Ivorians were the second team to reach the last eight after co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, who triggered wild celebrations with a shock 2-1 win over Senegal in Bata on Wednesday night.

KALOU SCORES

Gabon, the other co-hosts, could go through on Friday if they beat Morocco and Tunisia take a point against Niger in a Group C double bill in Libreville.

Ivory Coast, who survived a penalty appeal early on when Jonathan Pitroipa was tripped, went ahead in the 16th minute against Burkina when two defenders failed to cut out a cross and Salomon Kalou fired home.

They sat on their lead, survived a few scares and made the game safe thanks to a bizarre own goal by Bakary Kone, who sent a backwards header over stranded goalkeeper Daouda Diakite following an Ivorian free kick into the area.

“For the second game in a row, we haven’t conceded a goal,” said the Ivorians’ coach Francois Zahouis, clearly outlining his priorities.

In the first game of the double bill at the picturesque Estadio Nuevo de Malabo, Manucho twice put Angola ahead, with the second goal coming from the penalty spot, but Ahmed Bashir replied each time for the Sudanese.

Manucho dispossessed a defender to fire home Angola’s first in the fifth minute before Bashir headed Sudan level just after the half hour.

It was Sudan’s first goal at the tournament after they scored against Zaire in 1976. Since then, they have only qualified once, in 2008, when they lost all three games 3-0.

Angola regained the lead with a Manucho penalty three minutes after halftime, his third goal of the tournament.

But Bashir hooked in the equaliser in the 73rd minute for Sudan, whose entire squad consists of home-based players.

Reuters.