AFCON: Aubameyang agony, Ayew joy
06/02/2012
Saint-Etienne's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was left in tears after his missed penalty saw co-hosts Gabon lose a place in the semis to Mali while OM's André Ayew scored the winner as Ghana toppled Tunisia for a place in the final four.
In a dramatic night of AFCON semi-final action, Ligue 1 stars did all the scoring as Mali and Ghana won through to the semi-finals of Africa's biennial national team championships.
In the evening's first game, co-hosts Gabon seemed set to continue with their 100 per cent winning record in the tournament when Nice winger Eric Mouloungui's strike early in the second half - set up by Saint-Etienne's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who also saw a shot cannon off the frame of the goal - capped their domination and put them a goal to the good of Mali.
Diabaté impact
But Bordeaux's Cheick Diabaté had other ideas when he came on in the 75th minute, coolly taking down Sochaux striker Modibo Maïga's flick-on header and squeezing his shot on the turn under Le Mans 'keeper Didier Ovono with six minutes to go force extra time and, ultimately, a penalty shootout.
One of the stars of the tournament so far having scored a goal in each of Gabon's group-stage games, Aubameyang stepped confidently up to take his spot kick, but his swagger soon turned to tears as his missed shot - the only one of the nine penalties taken not to hit its mark - proved to be the end of the co-host nation's dream run at the tournament.
Ayew takes Ghana through
France legend Alain Giresse's Mali will face the Côte d'Ivoire in the semi-finals on Wednesday, while Ghana will take on Zambia after Marseille forward André Ayew's extra-time strike handed the Black Stars a 2-1 win in an ill-tempered match against the Tunisia of Montpellier's Jamel Saihi.
Lyon's Jonathan Mensah got the ball rolling when he crashed a powerful header into the back of the net after just ten minutes, but Tunisia hit back when Evian's Saber Khelifa responded in kind three minutes before the break.
Tunisia will have their regrets after 'keeper Aymen Mathlouthi committed a grave error, spilling the ball to gift OM hero André Ayew a simple tap-in (101'), but the Black Stars were over the moon as they held out for the rest of extra time - against a Tunisia side reduced to ten men after Toulouse's Aymen Abdennour was sent off for a foul on Ayew - to secure their progress to the final four.