Libya sneaked into the African Nations Championships quarter-finals when they snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat to send Congo crashing out in dramatic fashion at Peter Mokaba stadium Tuesday evening.
Just when they seemed to be bowing out of the competition Libya who forced a frenetic finish to the end of the game with a strong attacking game in the last 20 minutes twice came from behind in the 75th minute through Omar and deep into injury time via a blistering Abdelrahman Fetori shot that took a wicked bounce in front of Congo goalkeeper Massa Massa as it nestled its way in.
Yet until the second minute of the four minutes of time added on, it has appeared to be Congo who were joining Ghana in the quarter-finals after they raced to a 2-0 lead by the 54th minute after Moise Nkounkou and Hardy Binguila struck in the 36th and 53rd minutes.
Congo thought they had found a 28th minute opener when Bersyl Obassi got to the end of a cross but Mali referee Mahamoudou Keita disallowed the effort for an impediment on Libyan goalkeeper Mohamed Abdaula.
The Congolese then got it right when 17-year-old forward Nkounkou struck with a half volley from inside the box beating a diving Abdaula to his near post.
Binguila with a cracking goal, one of the best seen in the tournament so far then increased Congo’s advantage when he grabbed their second of the night in the 53rd minute with his effort bouncing off from the inside of the upright post.
By the hour mark, Congo’s pressure was telling as they had forced five corners to Libya’s one.
But Libya who made some changes in a bid to come back into the game turned their game around with 15 minutes remaining.
Tall forward AbdelSalam Omar was left with space to coolly control the ball and find his mark past Congolese goalkeeper Massa.
With group seeds Ghana playing pointless and already eliminated Ethiopia in Mongaung, it was the match at Peter Mokaba that was to decide which second team would bow out of the tournament.
The Libyans needed just a draw to stay in the competition and at the end of a dramatic night in Polokwane it was the North Africans whose fighting spirit earned them a quarter-final berth as Group C runners-up.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
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