Angola and Zimbabwe draw to earn first points
Angola and Zimbabwe each earned their first point at the Africa Cup of Nations following a 1-1 draw on Friday but the result leaves both facing early elimination.
Both sides lost their opening Group B clashes and are now left with difficult assignments in their last matches next week which they will effectively need to win if they are to progress.
Angola went ahead in the 24th minute when To Carneiro’s chipped pass fell perfectly for striker Gelson Dala, who ran on to the ball and squeezed it in at the near post as Zimbabwe’s defence proved too slow in closing down.
There was a lengthy delay soon after as Angola goalkeeper Hugo Marques suffered a cut above his eye after a clash of heads with Zimbabwe’s Divine Lunga.
He was bandaged up and continued but in the sixth minute of stoppage-time at the end of the first he was beaten as Zimbabwe’s veteran striker Knowledge Musona equalised.
It came at the end of a quick counterattack with a long ball from defence cleared to Bill Antonio, who hit a cross field pass for Musona to finish.
Angola defender David Carmo cleared off the line twice in the space of a minute on the cusp of the final 10 minutes, first when Zimbabwe substitute Tawanda Chirewa had his shot stopped by Hugo Marques, with the ball spinning back towards goal before being cleared.
From the resultant corner, Carmo was there again to deny Gerald Takwara at the back post with a timely interception.
Angola now goes up against the group's No.1 seed Egypt in Agadir on Tuesday (AEDT) while Zimbabwe will take on neighbour South Africa in Marrakech at the same time.
South Africa beat Angola 2-1 in its opening game before Egypt came from behind to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 on.
