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Thursday Football
24 January 2008
by Jerrad Peters

African Nations Cup
Prodded by the drums of their colorful supporters, Senegal attacked, attacked, and were unlucky to have only scored twice against Tunisia on Wednesday. But while it was the Lions of Teranga who dictated the pace throughout the course of the 2-2 draw in Tamale, the Carthage Eagles drew first blood.

After just nine minutes, and against the run of play, Caen forward Issam Jemaa lashed a seeing-eye strike from wide on the left. From there, Tunisia recoiled into a disappointing, defensive posture. Roger Lemere employed an effective offside trap; and typically useful forwards such as Jemaa and Francileudo Santos were rendered ineffective by the negative tactics.

Senegal, however, struggled to put anything together in the attacking third. The likes of El Hadji Diouf and Mamadou Niang tried in vain to hit the target from distance. And until the very end of the opening period, it looked as though Tunisia might have been able to sustain the one-goal lead.

But in a rare moment of defensive confusion, Radhi Jaidi fumbled the ball into the feet of Moustaffa Sall. The St. Etienne midfielder raced goalwards and slotted past Hamdi Kasraoui to level the scoreline.

Diouf nearly put Senegal ahead just moments after the restart. The Bolton Wanderers forward raced into the box before directing his shot wide. Shortly after, is was Niang failing to finish from in close. Increasingly frustrated and completely dictating play, Senegal persisted in crowding the penalty-box and hoping that a lucky break would bounce their way.

Six minutes after the hour-mark, it happened. Fulham midfielder Diomansy Kamara pounced on a loose ball in the area and stroked it home for the go-ahead. Had the score remained 2-1, it would have been an accurate reflection of the 90-minutes. However, Medji Traoui smashed a superb effort from 25-yards with 8-minutes to play and ensured a splitting of the points.

Group D’s other opening fixture produced a draw as well. With two matches to play in the bracket, any two of Senegal, Tunisia, South Africa, and Angola could progress into the knockout stages.

Like Senegal, Angola came apart at the death – passing up an opportunity to claim all three points. Club Brugges midfielder Elrio Van Heerden leveled matters with just three minutes to play. The 24-year-old’s blast came from just outside the 18-yard-box and was just reward for a period of extended pressure from the South Africans.

As a matter of fact, Bafana Bafana could have been ahead at the half. But a lack of finishing from Katlengo Mphela and Excellent Walaza left the door open for an Angolan opener.

It came on 29-minutes. Against the run of play, Manchester United starlet Alberto Manucho dove onto an Amado Flavio cross and headed past Moeneeb Josephs. It was a spectacular effort by the 24-year-old and, no doubt, has the brass at Old Trafford watching his development intently.

Angola nearly went 2-0 up shortly after the break. This time, it was Ze Kalanga with the chance. But the curving ball veered away from the target after the Boavista midfielder had struck from distance.

With the pair of Group D draws, added attention will be paid to Sunday’s fixtures. Senegal will battle Angola in the early start and Tunisia and South Africa will contest the evening match.