At 21:00 Beijing time on January 12, the first round of the African Cup of Nations group stage continued, and Group F ushered in a focus showdown, which was faced by Tunisia against Mali. In the first half, the two teams were calm, and in the second half Ibrahima Koone scored a penalty, Hariz conceded a penalty, Andraal Toure was sent off for a red card, and Tunisia lost 0-1.
Tunisia won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2004 and is currently ranked 30th in the world and 4th in Africa! Mali is 53rd, with the strength of the two teams relatively close. It is worth mentioning that the two teams have met in the group stage for two consecutive years, and two years ago the two sides played 1-1!
In the first half, the two sides exchanged white rolls and entered the dressing room 0-0. In the 48th minute, Mali won a corner kick, the first attack was released, Charles Traorre grabbed the second point, a burst shot hit Schiri's arm, and the referee decisively awarded a penalty.
Subsequently, Ibrahima Koone scored a shot and Tunisia fell behind 0-1. One goal behind, Tunisia fought back with all its might. In the 74th minute they passed a cross that also caused a handball inside the Genesbo penalty area, and the referee also awarded a penalty after watching VAR.
However, Hariz's penalty was saved and Tunisia failed to equalize. In the 85th minute, a magical scene was staged, and the referee actually blew the whistle 5 minutes ahead of schedule, so that the tunisian team was confused and protested, and the game could continue.
In the 88th minute, Mali striker Bilal Toure was sent off with a red card for stampede on his opponent, and the referee activated the VAR again and upheld the original sentence. At 89 minutes and 47 seconds, the referee once again sounded the whistle early to end the game, Mo said that there was no time, not even 90 minutes.
This completely aroused the anger of the Tunisian players, who surrounded the referee to ask for explanations, but the referee was not moved, and finally they were 0-1 against the opponent and encountered the opening black.
The referee made two magical moves to make the game quite strange. Even more exaggerated, the officials of the Africa Cup of Nations again made a request after the game, hoping that the Tunisian players would return to the field to play another 5 minutes, but they were rejected. Journalist Dounia Mesli said Tunisia could pay a heavy price for refusing to re-emerge, which was to be sentenced to 0-3.
After the game, Tunisian coach Kebayr also expressed his dissatisfaction: "The referee was supposed to whistle in the 95th minute, but he deprived us of the last 5 minutes, and we played very strongly, his decision was puzzling, it was a violation of sportsmanship, I don't understand why he did it!" ”
Of course, the anger of the Tunisian general is understandable, because the referee of this match, Janny Sikazwe, also blew the World Cup match 4 years ago, which belongs to the elite referee trained by the African Football Federation, and should not have made such a low-level mistake as ending the game early.