Quartet ready to make final step
After an intense round of quarter finals at the new and pristine Christie Park complex, four nations are left to battle it out for the 20th edition of the ANSA African Nations Cup NSW.
Mali, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Somalia all had to dig deep in their quarter final clashes to overcome tough opposition from DR Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and South Africa, respectively.
Mali were particularly impressive in their outing against defending champions DR Congo, with their sharp shooter Emmanuel Peters proving the difference in arguably the match of the tournament.
Somalia had a similarly tight contest against South Africa with only a sole goal separating the two nations. For Somalia it sets up their first semi final appearance in 10 years and coach Houssan Hallak has faith his players have what it takes to make the Championship match.
“Our performances have been consistent and I’m very proud of the boys considering the young average ages,” he said. “We have 10 players under the age of the 18 who show maturity but are led very well with our senior players.”
“The campaign this season, like every season, is very competitive and we as a team made ourselves a promise 3 months ago on the sand dunes of Kurnell, that we will fight for each other and to make Somalia great once again.”
“Our focus will be on one game at a time, to play with heart and soul, letting the effort speak for itself. Big thanks to Mohammed Omar and Steve Bazevski who work tirelessly in the background helping the team in every way.”
An early goal saw Ivory Coast set the right tone in their quarter final against 2018 fourth place finishers Sierra Leone. The Elephants weathered Sierra Leone pressure in the second half before netting a late goal to seal a path to the final four.
Meanwhile, for the second week in a row Liberia demonstrated their formidable resilience against an in form Tanzania team. Sekou Dulleh may not have been pleased that his side once again had a slow start to the match, conceding two early goals, but he was incredibly proud of the fight back.
The 2018 finalists are the only members of the 2018 semi finalists to return to in 2019. Dulleh will be hoping they can go one better at next week’s final at Jensen Park, Bankstown, but first they need to see if they can overcome an in form and confident Somalia.
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SEMI FINALS
Mali v Ivory Coast
Field 1
Christie Park, Macquarie Park
Saturday, 30 November 2019
Somalia v Liberia
Field 2
Christie Park, Macquarie Park
Saturday, 30 November 2019
