LAGOS – A semi-final berth is up for grabs in the first quarterfinal match of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) when the Teranga Lions of Senegal play Squirrels of Benin Republic at the 30 June Stadium, Cairo today. The match kicks off 5pm.
The Squirrels qualified for the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams after forcing West African giants, Black Stars of Ghana to a 2-2 draw, playing a goalless stalemate with Guinea-Bissau and reigning champions, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.
Benin then ousted the Atlas Lions of Morocco in the Round of 16, defeating the North Africans in a penalty shoot-out after the regular time ended 1-1 to reach the last eight of the competition for the first time in their history.
The Teranga Lions on the other hand reached the quarterfinal beating Uganda 1-0 on Wednesday. To reach the second round Senegal beat Tanzania in their opening group game 2-0, lost 1-0 to Algeria and beat Kenya 3-0 to qualify as second placed team from group D.
While Benin will be playing in the quarterfinal of the AFCON competitions for the first time, Senegal were eliminated at this stage during the 2017 edition and will hope to avoid a repeat today.
Thus, the Teranga Lions are expected to be too strong for the Squirrels and should produce another solid defensive display in this encounter. They have been excellent in the tournament, conceding just once in four matches.
They continue to underline their status as one of the favourites for the title with a string of stellar displays. Three wins in four matches means they are tipped to win again on Wednesday having kept clean sheets in all their victories.
Liverpool FC star, Sadio Mane has been excellent for the Teranga Lions with three goals in the competition. He should continue in attack alongside Ismaila Sarr, while Keita Balde is likely to return to the starting lineup having played as a second half substitute against Uganda.
Since the Squirrels stunned Morocco on penalties to book their place in the quarterfinals, they have been the talk of the tournament. The Michel Dussuyer’s men have still never won an AFCON match in regulation time with eight defeats and five draws from 13 previous matches.
They will be without key defender, Khaled Adenon, who was sent off in extra time against Morocco. Steve Mounie is set to return having missed the Round of 16 due to suspension, while Mickael Pote is likely to continue in attack despite failing to score in his last three matches.
On head-to-head, Senegal have never lost to Benin, claiming three wins and one draw from four previous matches. The most recent meeting was 2-1 victory in a friendly back in 2008.
Meanwhile, Mane will be the one to watch for Senegal with the forward looking to add to his three goals in the tournament. His combination with Balde and Sarr should prove too much to handle for Benin.
Kalidou Koulibaly has also been excellent at the back, leading them to three clean sheets in four matches. He will be confident of shutting out the duo of Pote and Mounie, both of whom have struggled in Egypt.
However, Senegal midfielder, Henri Saivet believes the encounter will be a difficult one for his side.
Saviet, who has been a near-constant in Cisse’s team, featuring in all but one of their last four games, has warned his side of the danger Benin can pose against the Teranga Lions.
“No match is going to be easy. All the qualified teams will up their game. So I don’t expect any easy game. We have qualified and we are happy.
“The game against Benin will be difficult. We have reviewed our game against Uganda and then watched Benin videos, so we are ready for the battle,” he said.
The post Senegal, Benin Battle For Semifinal Ticket appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Source: Independent
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