Thursday January 24th
Guinea gain footholdA 3-2 win against Morocco gave Guinea a huge boost in group A. Pascal Feindouno gave Guinea a first-half lead with a deceptive free kick in the 11th minute. Three minutes after the interval Hadji's effort from outside the box was pushed over the bar, but Guinea doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Ismahil Bangoura was given too much space and duly dispatched the ball past the keeper. Morocco pulled a goal back almost immediately with a stunning left-footed rocket from Hicham Aboucharouane, but 2 minutes later Feindouno restored Guinea's 2 goal advantage with a coolly taken penalty. The 2 goal Guinea hero turned villain when he was sent off for kicking out at an opponent in the 67th minute, but Morocco could not capitalise on their numerical advantage until the last minute of the match when Abdeslam Ouaddou flung himself to head into the net for a consolation goal. (Guinea 3 Morocco 2) |
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Thursday January 24th
No easy ride for GhanaNamibia gave Ghana a tough time in front of an expectant crowd. Having lost 5-1 against Morocco in their first match, Namibia did well to hold on for 41 minutes against the host Ghana who should have opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when Asamoah Gyan got past the goalkeeper but volleyed over the bar. The goal finally came when Owusu Abeyie crossed the ball into the 6 yard area for Junior Agogo to back-heel into the net. Brendell and Benjamin came close to hitting the target for Namibia midway through the 2nd half while Ghana's inability to turn possession into chances left them with the narrowest of wins. (Ghana 1 Namibia 0) |
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