The 2023 edition of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) currently ongoing in Algeria, threw up an enthralling encounter between Angola and Mali who played out an enthralling 3-3 draw on Monday.
Angola had raced to a 3-1 lead courtesy of two goals from Laurindo ‘Depu’ Aurelio and a third from Deivi ‘Gilberto’ Vieira, after 36-year-old Malian striker, Hamidou Sinayoko, had earlier equalised in the first half.
With the healthy scoreline, Angola looked set to win the Group D opener at the 40,000 seater Olympic Stadium in the western city of Oran.
With 72 minutes on the clock, Mali turned on the magic and hit two quick goals from Yoro Diaby who nodded in a corner and six minutes later, substitute Ousmane Coulibaly poked in a loose ball past goalkeeper Hugo Marques to complete a dramatic comeback.
With tone set, it was the turn of Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville to trade tackles and the two teams did not disappoint as Cameroon pipped Congo 1-0 in a Group E encounter also played on Monday night.
Though less exciting than the Angola vs Mali showdown, the central African derby was also an exciting encounter to watch.
Cameroon who came fourth when they hosted the last edition of the championship, took 63 minutes to break the deadlock against their dogged opponents.
Striker Jerome Mbekeli was the quickest as he reacted to lodged pass to powerfully head home past Congo goalkeeper, Pavelh Ndzila.
Roma manager, Jose Mourinho, has heaped praises on Nigerian forward, Victor Osimhen, after the striker scored a wonder goal which can potentially compete for the goal of the season in the Italian Serie A.
The former Chelsea boss said Osimhen, who is a target of one of his former clubs, Manchester United, can compare favourably with former Ivorian striker, Didier Drogba who terrorised defences in the English Premier League.
However, Mourinho said the only hindrance to the Napoli striker reaching legendary status is if he desists from “diving” to gain favours from referees.
“He is of the same level as Drogba, but Didier didn’t dive,” Mourinho told reporters after the game when asked to access the Super Eagles forward’s performance.
“If Victor changes, then OK. I’d buy him if I was at a club with a lot of money.”
“However, if he does go to England one day, he needs to change, because in Italy they put up with this sort of behaviour, whereas in the Premier League, they’d come down hard on him.”
“I told him that he scored a wonderful goal and needs to stop diving so much. His goal was fantastic, he did the same thing when we met earlier this season, so he’s a fantastic player. But he mustn’t dive,” the Portuguese coach said.
The red hot Osimhen, has scored 14 goals in 16 league matches, propelling Napoli to a healthy 13 point lead at the top of thr Serie A.
It was a night of shocks and history on Saturday at the ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Algeria when one of the tournament’s favourites, Ghana, was knocked out by outsiders, Niger Republic in a 2-0 defeat which saw the Nigeriens qualify for the semi-finals.
As if the shock was not enough, first-time qualifiers, Madagascar, thumped Mozambique 3-1 to also qualify for the semi-final in some style.
While Madagascar was dealing with Mozambique in Constantine, Niger shocked two-time runners-up, Ghana, in Oran to complete the last-four line-up alongside host, Algeria and Senegal.
Niger’s reward is a date with Algeria while Madagascar will square up against Senegal, both on Tuesday.
Though Algeria and Senegal are outright favourites to win the tournament meant for African footballers playing in their country of birth, pundits believe underating the so called minnows could spell doom as Ghana, Cameroon, DR Congo and other top playing nations found out the hard way.
Madagascar had earlier shocked Ghana and hammered Sudan to win Group C, while Niger had pulled up the shock of the group stages by sending Cameroon packing with a 1-0 victory in their last group D match.