In the early morning of January 19, Beijing time, the third round of the African Cup of Nations Group B, Senegal faced Malawi. The two sides fought for 90 minutes to exchange blanks and play a 0-0 draw. Mane, who is worth 80 million, is rather sluggish, while Senegal has also created a miracle, scoring only 1 goal in 3 group games, and as a result, they directly advanced to the round of 16 as the top of the group.
Senegal was runners-up at the last African Cup of Nations and is currently ranked 20th in the world and no. 1 in Africa. Before the start of this tournament, they overpowered Algeria and became the number one favorite to win the championship.
Senegal is full of talent, with big stars such as Mane, Guye, Eduard Mendi, Ismaila Saar, Keita Balde and Bunna Sal in a squad with an overall value of nearly €350 million. Even without the 80 million-dollar Mane, any one of the stars can crush the entire Malawi team.
But no one expected that Senegal would actually fall into the embarrassment of weakness, only 3 of the 10 shots on goal, and could only play with Malawi. After three rounds of the group stage, Senegal scored only one penalty in the first round, and the other two were 0-0!
However, due to the unexpected overturning of guinea in this round, 1-2 defeat to Zimbabwe at the bottom of the group, Senegal laughed and locked the first place in the group. Senegal scored only 1 goal in 3 games, 0 goals in the sports battle, but still broke into the knockout rounds, which is absolutely magical in any major competition. However, Senegal's offensive end is so sluggish, I am afraid it will be a boon for other opponents, and the number one hot minute will be counterattacked.
Despite not winning, Malawi was able to perform miracles, scoring points against Senegal for the first time. In the 76th minute, Chilwa was brought down in the penalty area by their opponents, but the referee refused to award a penalty or they could have upset their opponents.
In addition, Malawi scored 4 points after 3 rounds and is currently ranked 3rd in the group, and whether it can advance to the knockout round depends on the results of other groups. Of course, Malawi has seen hope, and there is a high probability that it will be able to qualify.
Malawi is a small country in southeastern Africa with an area of just 118,000 square kilometers and a population of just 19 million. According to the latest edition of the FIFA rankings, Malawi is ranked 129th in the world and is a standard fish belly team.
This is only the third time in The Malawi team's history to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations, the previous two times in 1984 and 2010, but both were out of the group from the bottom. So, Malawi has actually created the best record in team history, and if it can go further into the round of 16, it will be a historic breakthrough.