Ghana beat Mali to move closer to quarters
Reuters - Thursday 24 January 2013, 16:56
Mubarak Wakaso scored a first-half penalty as Ghana
took a big stride towards the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations
when they beat Mali 1-0 on Thursday.
The
22-year-old converted the 38th-minute kick to take Ghana above Mali in
the Group B standings with four points from their opening two matches
with a final group game against Niger to come in Port Elizabeth on
Monday.
Wakaso was
immediately booked after scoring for displaying a religious slogan when
he lifted up his jersey to reveal "Allah is Great" emblazoned on his
t-shirt.
It was his second yellow of the tournament and he will now miss Ghana's third group match against Niger on Monday.
The
win was fully deserved after the Black Stars out-played the team who
had beaten them to third place at the last finals in Equatorial Guinea
and Gabon one year ago.
Emmanuel
Agyemang Badu was a powerful presence in midfield and was at the heart
Ghana's success. His run into the opposing area led to the penalty,
just minutes after he had struck the upright with a header from
Wakaso's free kick.
"We
sought to try and change the tactics for an opponent with a different
style of play," said Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah. "It proved successful."
It
might have been a different story, however, had the Ivorian referee,
Noumandiez Doue, shown a red card when Ghana goalkeeper Fatau Dauda
handled just outside his area in the sixth minute.
Dauda
slipped as he tried to claim the ball ahead of Mali's captain Seydou
Keita and handled the ball on the ground, but escaped with a yellow
card.
"I don't understand why the referee did not do his responsibility," said Mali coach Patrice Carteron.
Ghana
dominated having made changes to their team after conceding a two-goal
lead to draw their opening game against Democratic Republic of Congo on
Sunday.
"We have to admit that Ghana was better than us today but we still have a last game to come," Carteron added.
"I'm
sad for the players because we wanted to do better but we still have
three points. We have no time to be disappointed now, we must prepare
for the next game."
Mali, who beat Niger in their Group B opener, meet the Democratic Republic of Congo in their last match in Durban.