Angola vs Tunisia - LiveBlog

It’s the end of Africa Cup of Nations Group D today, with top two Angola and Tunisia meeting. Though they’ve vowed not to, Angola and Tunisia can do each other a favour by taking it easy, as a draw would send them both through no matter what happens in Senegal vs South Africa.

Angola 0-0 Tunisia

Group D
Date: January 31
Kick-off: 1700 GMT
Venue: Tamale Stadium, Tamale

FULL-TIME It’s finished 0-0. Not very exciting truth be told, but Tunisia top Group C, Angola take second. Both go through, Angola make the knockouts for the first time ever.

90+ Both teams letting the clock tick. Tunisia jusk kicking the ball about between them. Angola not trying to stop them.

90′ The CAF man holds up the big board. We have three minutes of stoppage time.

84′ Lama punhces again under no pressure whatsoever. Maybe his hands don’t open?

82′ Angola are now just eight minutes and a bit of change from making it out of the group stage for the first time.

79′ Jomaa is coming of and Chikhaoui is going to get ten minutes or so.

-If things stay as they are then the quarterfinals will look like this:

Ghana vs Nigeria
Cote d’Ivoire vs Guinea
Egypt vs Angola
Tunisia vs Cameroon

68′ Airosa is off and crazy haired Loko is on for Angola. Shaved on top, dreadlocks in front. Awesome.

66′ Ben Difhallah is done dancing. He comes on for Zaiem.

Stil 1-1 in Kumasi. If you don’t believe me, go ask Laurie. Even if that changes and something changes between Angola and Tunisia, it’s unlikely that either Senegal or South Africa have time to make up the gap in goal difference.

-Ben Difhallah is either warming up or trying to start a new touch-your-right-knee, touch-your-left-knee, and repeat, dance craze. My guess is that he’s warming up.

60′ According to the JumpTV commentator (we’ve got the bad one for this game, but he’s having a decent day) Man Utd have loaned Manucho out to Panathanaikos in Greece.

59′ Jomaa back up. The Tunisian mechanics have somehow fixed him up.

58′ Jomaa has collapsed in a heap without a challenge. Either he’s just rivalled Rivaldo for the most unconvincing dive ever, or he’s got a pretty nasty injury.

56′ Great stuff. Flavio plays a one-two with Manucho and hits a screamer, but Kasroui plucks it from the air.

53′ Now it’s Tunisia’s turn to do some impressive defending. Flavio had burst through on goal but Haggui makes up a yard or so and gets across him, then sprint to make slide tackle and prevent the loose ball going for a corner.

50′ More good defending from Angola. Rui Marquez (of Leeds Utd, since you ask) gets between the man and the ball and shepherds it out for a goal kick with the composure of Franco Baresi.

46′ Brave brave stuff from Yaba Asha. As a waist height cross comes in he meets it with a diving header, despite Amine Chermiti going for the ball with both feet. Yaba Asha could have been seriously uglified, but got the ball.

45′ We have second half action.

-Roger Lemerre looks tense. But I think that’s just how his face is.

-Teams are coming back out.

HALF-TIME It’s 0-0 at the break and - if things stay the same - both teams are going through.

45′ Kali lets the ball bounce too many times and Jemaa gets an improvised cross towards Chermiti, but it’s a little too long.

44′ Andre is down for Angola. Looks like he’s pulled something in his thigh. Angola could do without losing another captain.

41′ Lama makes a great save from a Zaiem strike, diving to his right to tip it in the air with his left hand. If Lama was prepared to leave his line, ever, and catch a cross he’d be a fantastic keeper.

40′ Tension in the Tunisia box but Haggui (now wearing two boots again) clears with a massive header that travels about four miles up the field.

- It’s now Senegal 1-1 South Africa in the other game, so both Tunisia and Angola are safe again. For now.

35′ Mnari gets in front of a Manucho header and then also blocks another shot (couldn’t tell who from) as it rebounds. The second one will definitely have stung a lot more.

34′ Ze Kalanga receives the ball at pace and flies past Jaidi - zoom - but can’t get the ball past Kasraoui. Close though.

32′ Good old fashioned English Sunday league pub football clearance from Angola, as a defender puts his foot through the ball and sends it the length of the pitch. No messing about.

29′ Flavio and Haggui go up for a header and somehow Haggui comes out of the challenge with one of his boots missing. Is untying defenders shoelaces the secret to Flavio’s success?

26′ Another deep free kick from Tunisia. It’s too deep but think I’ve figured this out now. Lama is famously bad at coming for crosses so seems the plan is for Tunisia to keep floating them deep and make him panic.

23′ Ben Frej not happy with the rubbish free kick that was supposedly meant to find him at the far post. He does the internationally recognised open-hand gesture for “WTF was that?”

18′ VERY VERY VERY CLOSE for Tunisia. Chermiti was 100% open and met a deep free kick with a header back across goal. Somehow, it doesn’t go in. Chermiti can’t believe it. 0-0.

16′ Chermiti tests Lama with his left foot. Lama passes.

-South Africa’s lead is semi-bad news for Angola. A South African win means they could leapfrong Angola for second place, should Angola lose and should South Africa finish with a better goal difference. As things stand it’s all good though.

-Rumour has it that Van Heerden has scored to make it 1-0 to South Africa in the other game. Check in with Laurie on the Senegal vs South Africa LiveBlog for confirmation.

10′ Jaidi gets a yellow card for what looks like elbowing Flavio in the head while contesting a ball in the air. Flavio must be very annoying to play against.

-Samuel Eto’o is there to check out the potential opposition.

-The Carthage Eagles have given Chikhaoui and dos Santos a sit down and teenager Chermiti has started up front.

5′ Ben Frej flashed a header just wide for Tunisia.

3′ Jaidi gets a block on Flavio. I’ve been looking for the line-ups, but ESPN are poving unreliable. They claim Flavio is on the bench.

0′ We’re off.

Preview

Scout Report - Angola

Big day for Angola, as they’ve never made it out of the group stage at the Africa Cup of Nations before. That all changes provided they don’t lose today. And even if they do, then South Africa would have to beat Senegal. So fingers crossed for the Palancas Negras. Key midfielder Paulo Figueiredo is still out with a knee injury, but if Ze Kalenga can maintain the form he showed against Senegal then coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves won’t have to worry. The strike partnership of Manucho and Flavio is looking very dangerous, having scored all four of Angola’s goals between them. Though Manucho (recently signed by Man Utd, etc etc) is well over 6ft and Flavio is basically a midget, it’s the latter that seems to win a lot of balls in the air. It’s weird, but it works.

Scout Report - Tunisia

Roger Lemerre came in for a lot of criticism for his tactical negativity early on, but the impressive 3-1 win over South Africa has at least temporarily lifted the gloom. Yassine Chikhaoui looked a little more like himself in that game, and Silva dos Santos rediscovered his scoring touch with two goals. The other big news is that Etoile du Sahel star striker Amine Chermiti is finally back from suspension. He may or may not start, and Lemerre doesn’t entirely trust him, but we should see Chermiti take the field at some point.

Team Blogs: Visit Kiko at the Angola blog and Rami at the Tunisia blog.

Streams:

http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/thu31.1/Tunisia_Angola.html
http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/thu31.1/Tunisia_Angola2.html
http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=5431&part=sports

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