26th January, 2022
Jesus Owono was the hero of the day as minnows Equatorial Guinea sent Mali out of AFCON, winning 6-5 in penalty shootout.
The Equatorial Guinean goalkeeper saved two penalties, one of which was Mali’s last kick which would have kept them in the game.
The match had ended goalless after 120 minutes, necessitating penalty shootout to decide which team go into the quarter-finals.
After five penalties apiece, the two teams tied 3-3.
The shootout continued with Equatorial Guinea carrying the day.
Falaye Sacko needed to score to keep Mali in the shootout, but he missed.
He fired the ball towards the bottom left corner, but the goalkeeper Owono pulled off a tremendous diving save to deny him.
The victory was Equatorial Guinea’s third at AFCON’s knock out stage.
In 2015 AFCON, they beat Tunisia in extra-time 2-1 in the quarter finals.
They also won 4-2 win on penalties against DR Congo in the 2015 third place play-off.