10 February 2011
South Africa’s 2-0 victory over Niger in the 2011 African Nations Championship has put them on the brink of the knockout stages, despite the majority of the squad only competing in the third-tier of the game in that country.
Premiership and First Division sides refused to release their players at this important time in the season, and so coach Simon Ngomane was forced to look to the third level for players.
But they have done extremely well, first drawing 1-1 with Sweden in the build-up to the competition, and then recording victories over Ghana (2-1) and now Niger at the finals in Sudan.
“This was a proud moment for the country and the boys have been great ambassadors for their nation in this tournament,” Ngomane said.
Niger coach Harouna Doula says he will look forward, with a crucial game against Ghana on Sunday that will decide their fate in the tournament.
“We to turn our focus to Ghana game now and there is still chance for us to qualify for quarter finals,” Doula says. “The support we have had here in Sudan has been tremendous, I even met a relative of mine here at the stadium among the wonderful Niger local supporters.
Meanwhile, Ghana skipper Emmanuel Clottey has apologised to his country for their second-straight defeat after they lost 1-0 to Zimbabwe.
“We apologise for our bad performance, we did not expect to play like this, we don’t know what happened,” Clottey said.
“We want to correct out mistakes and we have one more chance to do that.”
Ghana coach Herbert Addo was also at a loss to explain the performance of his side, who were beaten finalists in the inaugural CHAN two years ago in Cote d’Ivoire.
“We selected the best players from our local league in Ghana and we planned to reach the final but now the odds of that happening are one in a million,” Addo said.
Ghana need to beat Niger in their final game on Sunday, and hope that South Africa do likewise to Zimbabwe to have a chance of making it to the quarterfinals.
On Thursday, holders DR Congo must get a positive result in their second Group C game against Cote dIvoire in Omdurman.
The Congolese, whose side is full of players from African Champions League winners TP Mazembe, lost their opener against Cameroon 2-0 and another defeat could see them exit the competition.
In the pool’s other match, Cameroon take on Mali, knowing that victory will almost certainly secure them a spot in the quarterfinals.
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