In the preliminary round, Mali earned its place in the round of 16 with three draws. The match against Tunisia also went into extra time. In the end, the West Africans prevailed in the penalty shootout despite being outnumbered for a long time.
With three draws, Mali finished second in Group A of the Africa Cup of Nations and thus qualified for the round of 16. There, Tunisia awaited the West Africans. In order to secure their first victory, Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet rotated his lineup again and fielded a team almost identical to the one that played in the second group match against Tunisia (1-1). Only Dante replaced Gassama. Compared to the last group game against the Comoros (0-0), however, there were five changes, which were now reversed.
Tunisia’s coach Sami Trabelsi, on the other hand, saw less need for action after the 1-1 draw with Tanzania and made only two changes. Sassi and Hadj Mahmoud came on for Achouri and Tounekti. Bundesliga players Gharbi (FC Augsburg) and Skhiri (Eintracht Frankfurt) therefore started in the center again.
Mali makes life difficult for itself
However, the game was not particularly entertaining. Both teams focused on tough tackles, which meant that the game was interrupted repeatedly. Gharbi had Tunisia’s first real chance on goal, but his long-range shot went just wide of the left post (13′).
The game continued to be fragmented, which was only confirmed in the 26th minute. Woyo Coulibaly was far too overconfident when he tackled his opponent Hannibal, hitting him well above the ankle, and was rightly sent off by referee Abongile Tom. Mali then focused on defending and continued to interrupt the game with long treatment breaks. As a result, there was plenty of room for improvement going into the break.
First shot on goal in the 80th minute
The picture hardly changed after the restart, even though Tunisia now clearly dominated the field but was unable to create any danger from its possession. A direct corner from Abdi (56th minute) was the only sign of life from Trabelsi’s team for a long time.
Instead, Mali grew in confidence and broke free on a few occasions, creating a number of counterattacks. One such attack created danger when substitute Nene shot from distance, but he also missed the goal (64′). The first real shot on goal did not come until the 80th minute. The most prominent Tunisian player, Hannibal, curled a free kick from the left towards the near post. However, Mali goalkeeper Diarra managed to clear the ball somewhat awkwardly from the corner.
Tunisia throws away the win
But Tunisia’s salvation came in the 88th minute, with Augsburg’s Saad, who had come on as a substitute shortly before, lifting a long cross onto the head of Chaouat. He sneaked in behind the defense and headed the ball into the goal. The decisive goal? No! Because in the six minutes of added time, Mali actually managed to land a lucky punch. The West Africans thus forced Tunisia into extra time. The game continued in a piecemeal fashion, although a shot from Abdi (98′) in the first half of extra time and a goal from Chaouat (107′) in the second half, which was correctly disallowed for offside, provided a few moments of excitement.
Mali wins on penalties
And so Mali and Tunisia actually had to go to penalties. But although Bissouma initially missed and Nene also failed to score, Mali still forced their opponents to their knees. The reason for this was a miss by Abdi and two strong saves by Diarra against Achouri and Ben Romdhane. The decisive penalty was then scored by former Stuttgart player Touré, sending Mali into the quarterfinals.
The West Africans will continue in the quarterfinals on January 9 (5 p.m.) against Senegal, who won 3-1 against Sudan in their first round of 16 match.
