A Review of the Second Round of Group Stage Fixtures -By Issa Babatunde Ahmed

A Review of the Second Round of Group Stage Fixtures with boys pushing hard to be men but real men are separating from the boys. Cameroon, Nigeria, and Morrocco have all secured a place in the Knock Out stages of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nation.

With no time to blink, the second round of fixtures in the groups has been a tale of the underdogs at the Afcon 2021  the upsets, drama, and goals are finally beginning to pour in with full-time results going the way of the underdogs.

In Group A, host Cameroon became the first team to qualify for the next round of the tourney after coming from behind to thrash Ethiopia 4-1. The Waliya Antelopes started brightly and were rewarded with a goal four minutes into the game but an attack led by Cameroon’s captain Vincent Aboubakar ensured Ethiopia remained pointless after two games. Burkina Faso lost on the opening day to the host and were without Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traore but that didn’t stop Stallions from earning the much-needed 3points defeating Cape Verde 1-0 courtesy of Hassane Bande. This means both teams now have three points each going into the last game of the group stage.

The Teranga Lions of Senegal might be edging towards the knockout stages but they have not looked convincing in their Group after sharing the points in a goalless draw with Guinea in Group B, leaving both sides on four points and also sharing the top spot on the log in the group. The other fixture in the group saw counterpart Malawi defeat Zimbabwe 2-1 as Frank Mhango’s brace gives Malawi their First three points in the competition.

In Group C, Youssef En-Nesyri of Morocco missed a penalty but Selim Amallah and Zakaria Aboukhlal’s goals-against AFCON debutant Comoros Island were enough to bag the knockout stage ticket. Morocco with a perfect record in the competition three goals, six points, and no goal conceded after two games leaving Comoros with no point and just a game shy from leaving the AFCON. Black stars of Ghana are on the edge of an early exit after playing a 1-1 draw against Gabon who remains without their Captain Pierre Aubemeyang due to a minor heart condition. The result left Ghana frustrated which led to a red card for Ghana’s Benjamin Tetteh for his part in the post-match brawl. Gabon with four points will need just a point to cement their place in the knockout stage but could still go through as the 3rd best-placed team.

In Group D, Super Eagles of Nigeria continue their impressive run in the competition defeating Sudan 3-1 with goals from Samuel Chukwueze, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Moses Simon to book their place in the round of 16 bagging six points from two games, while Sudan have one. In the other Group D fixture, Mo Salah finally came to party scoring the only goal in the controversial game between Egypt and Guinea-Bissau to move second in the group with three points. The pharaohs of Egypt were still not impressive and were rescued by a VAR decision in the last minutes of the encounter after Guinea-Bissau scored what could have been one of the goals of the tournament.

Group E turned tales of underdogs as Equatorial Guinea ranked 114 defeated the Africa Cup of Nations defending champions Algeria 1-0 to end their 35 match unbeaten run, leaving the number one ranked team in Africa at bottom of the table in the group with just a point. The other fixture in Group E produced another drama as another underdog Sierra Leone held Ivory Coast a 2-2 draw, Alhaji Kamara struck a late equalizer after the Ivory Coast coast goalkeeper spilled a back pass leaving Ivory Coast with four points while Sierra Leone have two points. Algeria and Ivory Coast match will be a final before final as both can afford a defeat though the Ivorians need just a point to cement a place in the round of 16.

Goals from the spot-kick for each side to split the honours between the Scorpions and the Eagles as Gambia continue their impressive debut at the AFCON and remained joint top of the Group F standings with Mali with four points each from two games while Tunisia thrashed Mauritania 4-0 with Captain Wahbi Khazri scoring a brace to earn their first three points from two games for the North Africans who are now third on the log in Group F