Group D

Senegal 

Senegal couldn’t stand up to the toughest group in the competition after defensive lapses cost it dearly against Tunisia and Angola.

Ultimately it left the tournament winless after drawing with South Africa.

El Hadji Diouf making himself available after an international “retirement” failed to aid Senegal’s cause in front of goals, leaving the hard-working Henri Camara with little foil in the forward line.

Defence was Senegal’s biggest problem though, Souleymayne Diawara and Abdoulaye Faye combined to score a goal against Angola but were just as culpable for three that were conceded.

After South Africa took the advantage for Senegal it was all about pride, somehow it found a way to hold on for a draw despite being hammered by Bafana Bafana.

At least the rearguard 1-1 draw may have uncovered a new star; Bouna Coundoul deputising for Tony Sylva in goal with a stunning string of saves.

World Cup qualification prospects:

Senegal is in for a tricky first stage of qualifying with Algeria, Liberia and the ever-improving Gambia its opponents.

Algeria starts and ends Senegal’s campaign, making full points against the other two teams in the middle vital to ensuring one of the eight runner-up slots before the final game in Algeirs on September 5.

Should Senegal make it to the final group stage it has the wealth of European-based professionals and at-times prolific strikers to make a run for the World Cup.

But finishing top of a group with a leaky defence will not happen.

South Africa

South Africa coach Carlos Albert Pareira said before and during the tournament he was moulding a squad for 2010.

It might be a good idea, but South Africa’s performances at this Cup of Nations showed that is still very much a work in progress.

After escaping with a draw against Angola, Bafana Bafana couldn’t handle the complete article in Tunisia.

Its final game performance against Senegal showed why it bought so many strikers in the absence of Benni McCarthy – as none of them had could land the killer blow.

It speaks volumes that it was a midfielder Elrio Van Heerden who was South Africa’s top scorer, despite strikers Surprise Moriri, Sibusiso Zuma, Mpho Chabangu, Lance Davids, Thembinkosi Fanteni, Katlego Mphela and Excellent Walaza in the squad.

A first-choice partnership has to eventuate or Pareira has to find a smaller group of players to persist with, two years is nowhere near enough time to have any one or two of seven strikers ready to play in the system he decides on.

World Cup prospects:

As hosts South Africa is qualified for the tournament but will need a soft-as-butter group with a bit of help from FIFA if it wants to see the knock-out stages at this rate.

A scoreless draw between Tunisia and Angola was enough to advance both teams to the quarter-final of the African Cup of Nations tonight.

Despite South Africa and Senegal playing the more entertaining game of the night in a 1-1 draw the result was left irrelevant to Group D.

Tunisia now plays Cameroon in the quarter-final round while Angola will face Egypt.

At the Baba Yara stadium it would have needed a lop-sided vicotry for either South Africa or Senegal to keep the door open for progression.

But despite doing almost all the attacking it was South Africa's unreliable defence and poor finishing that continued to cost it dearly.

Elrio Van Heerden opened the scoring on 13 minutes for Bafana Bafana but the backline was caught cold 20 minutes later by Senegal's all-time top scorer Henri Camara.

In the second half South Africa laid seige to the Senegal goal but Bouna Coundoul, deputising for Tony Sylva, produced a string of inspired saves on the occasions the ball was on target.

Any chance South Africa had of grabbing a consolation victory was torched as both Thembinkosi Fanteni and Siphiwe Tshabalala put shots wide in the latter stages.

Coach Carlos Alberto Pareira has insisted this Cup of Nations tournament was preparation for the 2010 World Cup for his team, and after collecting two points from three games his side has plenty to work on.

Senegal on the other hand were described by commentators as having reached the "end of an era" in which it could be considered one of the big teams of African football.

Senegal coach Henri Kasperczak resigned and decided against taking up the impossible challenge his team faces in its final group game against South Africa.

According to the BBC Kasperczak's immediate resignation has thrown assistant coach Lamine Ndiaye into the hot-seat for the Teranga Lions' final game.

Kasperczak told the BBC he accepted responsibility for Senegal's poor showing but some players still believed his resignation was unexpected. 

But Senegal's flimsy defence could not hold its 1-0 lead against Angola yesterday with the 3-1 loss leaving it needing to win big against South Africa while receiving a favourable result in the Tunisia-Angola game.

In contrast, Ivorian defender Kolo Toure is in a battle to remain a part of the tournament after being assessed as having a grade-one groin strain.

While Toure's brief assessment of the injury after leaving the Ivory Coast-Benin match was that he would return after missing one match, it appears he will now be out for the quarter finals as well.

Arsenal's medical staff have been heavily involved in the process of rehabilitating Toure, insisting he fly from Ghana to Paris for their own assessment of his injury.

In disciplinary matters Egypt's Mohamed Aboutrika has been warned for displaying a political message on his undershirt during a goal celebration against Sudan on Saturday.

Aboutrika's shirt read "sympathize with gaza" in both English and Arabic.

Aside from the yellow card issued to Aboutrika during the game for the indisgression, no further action other than a warning has been taken by the Confederation of African Football.  

An inspired second half comeback from Angola has put Senegal’s African Cup of Nations on the ropes as the Black Antelopes won 3-1 in Tamale tonight.

Two goals from Manchester United-bound striker Manucho turned a 1-0 defecit into a 2-1 lead for Angola before fellow striker Flavio made the points safe.

Senegal’s poor marking in the backline cost it dearly after defender Abdoulaye Faye had given the Teranga Lions a first-half lead.

 Angola stood-off South Africa and let the Bafana enjoy long periods of time in possession in its opening game but showed more initiative from kick-off today.

But their willingness to venture forward left cracks at the back that Senegal were able to expose. 

El Hadji Diouf criminally put an open header over the bar but made up for it within two minutes when his free kick helped Senegal open the scoring.

In the 21^st minute Souleymane Diawara met Diouf’s deep cross at the right hand post and squared for Abdoulaye Faye who headed home.

 Angola went to the break resisting a period of dominance for Senegal, albeit without any significant threat on the target.

But the momentum switched at the start of the second half with Manucho putting his mark on the game and scoring his second and third goals of the tournament.

Manucho equalised in the 50^th minute with a thundering header after leaping highest to meet a cross from deep on the right.

Tony Sylva then opened the door for Manucho to score his second fifteen minutes later when the striker pounced on the Senegal goalkeeper’s miss.

Sylva came for a corner but couldn’t hold the ball, Manucho muscling his way through the pack to push home.

With just under 15 minutes remaining Flavio sealed the match after rising totally unmarked to head in a cross from the left by Joao Yamba Asha.

Flavio, the only Angolan player to score in a World Cup, had no trouble beating a friendless Sylva, left totally exposed by Senegal’s inability to track the forward.

The result means Senegal must beat South Africa and hope results go its way if it is to make the final eight of the competition.

The quality of football is suffering significantly in the night game timeslot at this year’s African Cup of Nations.

While the descending humidity is a given, the players have failed to replicate the standard on show just in the curtain-raiser game.

After a sustained period of the first game of each double-header being the more entertaining game, it can no longer be put down to coincidence.

The last five days speak for themselves, the opening match yielding 26 goals and the night game just nine.  

While there are some one-sided scores helping along that rampaging 26-goal tally, night matches were a slaughter has been expected have also failed to deliver. Ghana may be out of form but scraped a 1-0 victory over Namibia in the heat of the night in Accra on Thursday after Guinea and Morocco’s end-to-end classic had yielded five goals between the teams.

While the heat and conditions should come as no shock to the players, an inability to play a pitch collecting dew has been blamed by some coaches – Ghana’s Claude Le Roy included – as a reason for the night-time struggle.  

Despite plenty of support from a noisy crowd in Sekondi on Friday, Nigeria and Mali played out the first and only 0-0 of the competition so far with a dearth of attacking chances.

The Confederation of African football has had little choice to put the games in the times they are (5 and 7.30pm kickoff) in order to attract as many fans as possible, while allowing time-consuming travel for local and international media.

Tonight promises to be the best chance of two quality games, with South Africa set to play Tunisia after notoriously negative Angola and Senegal play in the opener.

 Manchester United’s new acquisition Manucho has already shown what he is capable of with a superb leaping header to score against South Africa in the opening game.

 But Senegal will be stinging after Tunisia opened up their otherwise-resolute defence with two astounding strikes in the 2-2 draw.

South Africa escaped with a point against Angola and now face a Tunisia side who showed the quality in their team is up to the challenge in the most competitive group of the tournament.

Teo Pellizzeri, Accra

A thundering late strike from Mejdi Traoui has rescued a point for Tunisia in its 2-2 draw with Senegal in Tamale this evening.

It was a point dropped for the Senegalese who needed a host of chances to take a 2-1 lead but then failed to keep them coming after the go-ahead goal.

Traoui’s swerving strike left Tony Sylva standing in the Senegal goal as he hit the ball from outside the area under plenty of defensive pressure.

The game continued the amazing action and standard of goals at this edition of the Cup of Nations.

Issam Jemaa’s opener for Tunisia came from the tightest of angles while Traoui’s thunderbolt came under considerable defensive pressure from outside the area.

But it was Tunisia who had every right to go in unhappy at half time after Senegal’s Moustafa Sall equalised with the last kick of the first half.

After exchanging early attacking periods in the opening ten minutes and meeting packed defensive lines, it was only ever going to be a precision strike like Jemaa‘s that would break the deadlock.

However with the opening period petering out it was a costly error from Tunisia captain Radhi Jaidi that put the ball into Sall’s path.

The late goal gave Senegal all the momentum at the start of the second half.

Diomansy Kamara’s strikers’ instincts got the better of him with one opportunity as he blazed away for goal despite a tee-up of an open Sall beckoning.

But it was those predatory instincts that made the difference as Kamara put his foot to a shot to clear a goal-mouth scramble and find the back of the net.

After Traoui’s late strike neither side took the initiative to go on and open its Cup of Nations account with three points.

Tunisia will have plenty to think about before the next match, with Traoui and fellow striker Dos Santos both picking up yellow cards for dives. Dos Santos’ particularly incriminating as he went to ground in the opposite direction of any momentum the minimal contact he received would have pushed him.

The crowd in Tamale looked unimpressive, with the stadium’s size blamed by the local pundits for the poor turnout with the proximity of the competing teams also mentioned.