Mali scripted one of the most dramatic stories of the Africa Cup of Nations, advancing to the quarter-finals after beating Tunisia 3-2 on penalties despite playing with 10 men for more than 100 minutes. The round-of-16 clash finished 1-1 after extra time before the Eagles held their nerve in the shootout.
Tunisia looked set for victory when Firas Chaouat headed home in the 88th minute, sending their supporters into celebration. But Mali refused to surrender. Deep into stoppage time, the Eagles were awarded a penalty, and Lassine Sinayoko calmly converted to force extra time.
Mali Penalty Drama and Goalkeeper Brilliance Seal Victory
The shootout was filled with tension. Mali captain Yves Bissouma blazed his effort over the bar, but Tunisia failed to capitalize as Ali Abdi missed his spot kick. Goalkeeper Djigui Diarra then became the hero, saving two penalties before El Bilal Toure stepped up to score the decisive kick.
Mali had been a man down since the 26th minute after Ousmane Coulibaly was sent off, yet their resilience never wavered.
“𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒆𝒔,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒊 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑻𝒐𝒎 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒕. “𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”
Saintfiet’s side will now face defending champions Senegal in a mouthwatering West African quarter-final clash next Friday, after Senegal defeated Sudan 3-1 earlier in the day.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅,” 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.”
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