In the early morning of January 25, Beijing time, the Round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations staged a "fish belly confrontation", and Guinea and the Gambia played a duel. As a result, after 90 minutes of the battle, the two sides were sent off one person each, and the Gambia relied on a goal in the second half to eliminate the opponent 1-0, reaching the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations for the first time in history.
This year's Africa Cup of Nations main tournament, the first time that the world-ranked 150th-placed Gambia has participated, is also the lowest ranking in the knockout rounds, and is regarded as the number one gift package. In the group stage, the Gambia had a good performance, with 2 wins and 1 draw to finish second in the group stage, especially against the winning favourite Tunisia, which won 1-0.
Guinea, although they are not ranked high in the world, only 81, are theoretically far stronger than the Gambia. However, in this game, guinea captain, that is, the star Keita who played for Liverpool, was suspended due to a red card, which affected the direction of the game.
Over the course of the game, Guinea has always had the upper hand and has scored 19 kicks in 90 minutes. Guinea, however, did not score any goals. On the Gambian side, on the other hand, they won the game by relying on 70 minutes of goals in the knockout round for the first time.
In the final moments of the game, players were sent off on both sides. Guinea's two consecutive shots in injury time hit the goal frame, which also indicated that luck was not on their side in this game. In the end, after 90 minutes, Guinea lost the match 0-1 and did not win the six elimination matches in the history of the African Cup of Nations.
The Gambia, which is competing in the African Cup of Nations for the first time, is still a continuation of its magic, and has now reached the quarterfinals. In this regard, the Gambia became the second team in the 21st century after Madagascar to reach the top 8 for the first time in the African Cup of Nations. In the last tournament, Madagascar eventually fell to the quarter-finals, while the Gambia will have a chance to monopolize the record once it passes the next round.
In this African Cup of Nations competition, the new gungun Gambia has the courage to train new talents, and they have the opportunity to appear in the group stage with 24 people. The young player who currently plays for Roma, Dalbo, also got the opportunity to play in the early morning game, and the young player who was excavated by Mourinho contributed his strength in the early morning game.
After successful promotion, the Gambia will meet cameroon, the host of this year's Africa Cup of Nations. It remains to be seen whether this amazing new African army can continue to make achievements. And Liverpool star Keita, who returned home early, may be a good news for Klopp in the early morning.