On the evening of January 14, Beijing time, the second round of the African Cup of Nations continued to play, of which a focus game in this round, Senegal and Guinea competed for the top spot in the group, and the two liverpool stars Mane and Keita served as the captains of their respective teams. The whole game ended, the two teams exchanged blanks 0-0, and both groups had the opportunity to grab the top spot in the group in the final round.
At the Africa Cup of Nations, the "Tranga Lions" Senegal are the number one favourites to win the championship, and their current FIFA ranking has reached 20, the highest of all participating teams. However, due to the epidemic, a number of Senegalese players are currently unable to play, including goalkeeper Mendy and defender Koulibaly, and Liverpool star Mane has carried the offensive flag.
In the first match, Senegal relied on Mane's 97-minute penalty to help the team win 1-0 against Zimbabwe to open the tournament. Historically, Senegal has not won any African Cup of Nations.
On the Guinean side, their world ranking is far inferior to Senegal, only 81, lower than the national football team. In the first round, Guinea went through a difficult 90 minutes to win 1-0 against Malawi. At present, the most well-known player in the Guinean team is captain Keita. In this match, Mane and Keita embraced before the match as captains of both sides, and this game is also known as the Liverpool derby at the Africa Cup of Nations.
In terms of strength, Senegal is far better than Guinea, but they did not find much cheap in this game. Guinea, on the other hand, had a good chance to score in the 30th minute, but unfortunately they did not take advantage of it. Before half-time, Mane received the ball and fell to the ground in the penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty.
In the second half, the two teams still struggled to score goals. On the field of play, Liverpool's twin stars Mane and Keita are not weak at all. In the 64th minute of the match, Keita directly brought down Mane in a defensive attack, and Liverpool fans were very worried that the players were injured by their own family.
The whole game ended, the two teams were tied 0-0, each side scored one point, and neither of them locked the group out of the qualifiers in the early round. For liverpool's two players, the match was also a harmonious ending. Especially for Keita, the guinea he leads is theoretically far inferior to his opponents, and it is already not a small upset to be able to equalize the number one favorite to win the championship.
Since Senegal and Guinea are far superior to the other two teams in the group, it is still a matter of high probability that they will qualify. In the final round of the group stage, who can get more goal differences will most likely be the top team in the group. In the third round, Mane will most likely welcome a comeback from his teammates, which will greatly enhance Senegal's strength.