| Goals | Goals |
|---|---|
| 11. Eric Mouloungui (55’) | 9. Cheick Diabate (84’) |
Expectation weighs on hosts
A growing burden of expectation is likely to weigh heavily on the home team when Gabon take on Mali in their African Nations Cup quarter-final on Sunday.
Three successive group stage wins for the co-hosts have enlivened the country and turned Gabon from a side seeking a respectable performance to a team whose fans now believe can win the continental championship.
Along with the presence of their president Ali Bongo in the change room after every game, the sentiment is now that Gabon has to win and this pressure is expected to be piling onto the players.
This will come as welcome news for Mali, who banished the demons of a miserable campaign in Angola two years ago to reach the last eight, albeit having to wait five minutes at the end of their win over Botswana before their place was confirmed.
Their celebrations thereafter suggested what a relief it was to make it to the last eight and that they would play with more liberty in Sunday’s quarter-final in Libreville.
The influence of Seydou Keita in the midfield is key to the chances of the visitors in a position where Gabon do not have an influential player. If he can dominate, then the ‘Panthers’ might not be able to get the ball they need to their top striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Mali’s coach Alain Giresse was in charge of Gabon at the finals in Angola two years ago where they lost on in a three team tie at the top of the first round. But they did beat Cameroon in their opening game to serve notice of their potential.
Giresse will be intimately aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the Gabonese but his own Mali side is something of a new product, the former France World Cup star having recycled many of the top players out of the side, like Momo Sissoko and Mahamadou Diarra.
Gabon’s obvious strength is their speed down the flanks, the finishing of Aubameyang and the resounding support of the crowd. But there is every chance that if things do not go right, the supporters might yet suffocate their own team’s confidence with the pressure from the stands.
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