Tuesday, January 19, 2010

28 Years Later...

Algeria and Angola's 0-0 draw resulted in Mali's elimination from the ACN, despite "Les Aigles" beating Malawi 3-1 in their final match and having a superior goal difference to both Algeria and Angola, as head-to-head results prevailed.

Algeria and Angola knew that a draw would put both teams through, and clearly played for that result. Algeria coach Rabah Saadane admitted he told his team to "take it easy" during the game. "We had the rules and knew that if Mali won, we would go through. So we said to our players: 'Now stop. Either score or draw - absolutely minimum,'" he said.

Mali lodged a protest with the CAF, complaining that the sides purposely played out a goalless draw to ensure progress.

It's been 28 years since Algeria was similarly eliminated from the 1982 World Cup in one of the World Cup's most disgraceful incidents ever.

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