Late goals take Burkina Faso into semifinals

LIBREVILLE — Burkina Faso scored twice in the closing stages to beat Tunisia 2-0 Saturday and become the first qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals. Substitute Aristide Bance scored on 81 minutes after a controversially awarded free-kick with big-screen replays suggesting the hand-ball decision was wrong. Prejuce Nakoulma doubled the lead three minutes later in Libreville with a breakaway goal to clinch a semifinal against Egypt or Morocco next Wednesday. The goalless first half of the quarterfinal produced more yellow cards than clearcut chances at the Stade de l'Amitie in a hot and humid Gabonese capital. Tunisians Aymen Abdennour, Mohamed Ali Yakoubi and Syam Ben Youssef were cautioned by the South African referee, as was Burkinabe Charles Kabore. Bertrand Traore, a Chelsea midfielder on loan to Dutch giants Ajax, came closest to scoring for Burkina Faso midway through the half. Nakoulma did the spadework by muscling past two Tunisians and Traore turned smartly in a crowded goalmouth to fire just over. Burkina Faso had a narrow escape on 34 minutes when Taha Yassine Khenissi flicked a corner across the goal and Yakoubi just failed to connect. Soon after, Burkinabe Issoufou Dayo had the ball in the net after a free-kick, but the Tunisians were relieved to see the flag raised for a clear offside. Having had less possession in the first half, Burkina Faso reversed the trend as the second half unfolded, pushing forward without really threatening to score. The fifth yellow card of the match went to Burkinabe Yacouba Coulibaly, the only local-based footballer in the Burkinabe starting line-up. Most of the 10,015 crowd was backing Burkina Faso and they showed great excitement when giant striker Bance replaced Cyrille Bayala on 76 minutes. It proved an inspired substitution by Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte as much-traveled Bance broke the deadlock five minutes after coming off the bench. Bertrand Traore pushed a free-kick just outside the area to the Ivory Coast-born striker and he hammered a low shot past Tunisia goalkeeper and captain Aymen Mathlouthi. Burkina Faso doubled the lead three minutes later when Nakoulma broke clear, raced past Mathlouthi, who had charged from his box, and stroked the ball into an empty net. Renard tells Morocco to ‘seize the opportunity’ Morocco coach Herve Renard has called on his side to "seize the opportunity" at the Africa Cup of Nations after fulfilling their initial objective of reaching the quarter-finals. "It is already a privilege to be in the last eight but now we need to be much more ambitious than that," Renard told reporters ahead of Sunday's meeting with Egypt in Port-Gentil, Gabon. Morocco made it to the quarterfinals as runners-up in Group C after eliminating the Ivory Coast, the team Renard coached to the title two years ago. Other fancied sides like Algeria and the hosts Gabon failed to make it out of their groups and suddenly Moroccans are daring to dream of glory in a competition they have not won since 1976. "Sometimes the African Cup can be more difficult than this so when you are lucky enough to safely negotiate the group stage against very strong teams you need to seize the opportunity," said Renard, 48. "It would be extraordinary if we could go a lot further."
 Morocco had not even made it beyond the group stage at the Cup of Nations since losing the 2004 final to hosts Tunisia. "I have already received some quite moving messages from people I know in Morocco, who maybe usually watch La Liga, Barcelona or Real Madrid.” "They are supporters of these teams but it is not the same thing. They are filled with pride just now," added Renard, who is bidding to become the first man to win the Cup of Nations three times with three different countries. The Frenchman also led Zambia to glory in Gabon in 2012. "To be able to have a great party when we return to Morocco would be magnificent. And I know what I am talking about," he added. — AFP