Equatorial Guinea booked a place in the last eight of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The Nzalang Nacional beat the Eagles of Mali 6-5 on penalties shootout on Wednesday night.
Both sides played out a 0-0 draw in normal and added time, forcing the match to be decided on penalties.
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Ibrahima Kone should have given Mali the lead when he found some space inside the box in the seventh minute. But he rifled his effort just wide of the left post.
Equatorial Guinea felt they should have been given a penalty in the 10th minute when a Malian player handled the ball inside the box. But the referee waved play on.
With four minutes to the break, centre referee Bakary Gassama awarded Mali a penalty. However, he reversed his decision after a VAR check as the match went into the break still tied at 0-0.
The second half was a tight contest as both sides struggled to maintain possession, creating few chances on either side of the goal.
Mali should have done better though when a chance fell to them on the 58th minute. But Mohamed Camara was unable to find the target as his effort went over the bar, giving Jesus Owono in goal little trouble.
There were no more chances and none of the teams could find a goal in normal time, forcing the match to go into extra time.
In the first half of extra time, Emilio Nsue went down under a challenge from a defender in the box. But the referee, despite all Equatorial Guinea surrounding him, was not interested as play continued.
That was the only key moment in extra time. And with no winner, the match was decided on post-match penalties.
Equatorial Guinea missed their first penalty. But they recovered well to stun the Malians, who lost three of their spot kicks.
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The Nzalang Nacional of Equatorial Guinea will now face the Lions of Senegal in the quarter-finals.
