"Senegal overpowered Botswana and Benin during the group stage, and their range and variety of attacking options should prove too much for Sudan. The Falcons of Jediane will be a stern challenge however, their physicality troubled Algeria in their opener -- despite conceding inside two minutes from Riyad Mahrez -- and they proved against Equatorial Guinea that they can be rugged, well drilled, and difficult to break down."
"This is the first opportunity for an upset; Tunisia will be fancied given their AFCON pedigree, but even head coach Sami Trabelsi has urged the team to have a mental reset after they struggled during the group stage. They were flattered by the 3-2 defeat by Nigeria, being utterly outclassed for the first 70 minutes of the contest, while vulnerabilities in goal represent a clear area for Mali to exploit. Mali will fancy their chances, despite drawing all three of their group games, including against lowly Zambia and Comoros."
Senegal dominated their group and possess diverse attacking options likely to overwhelm Sudan, despite Sudan's physicality and organised defending. A midfield featuring Idrissa Gana Gueye and Pape Gueye should give Senegal control and supply plenty of firepower. Sudan progressed without scoring in regular play and will mainly threaten from set pieces. Tunisia enter as favourites on pedigree but showed frailties, suffered a flattering 3-2 defeat to Nigeria and were urged to mentally reset by their coach. Mali drew all three group matches but improved against Morocco, appearing vibrant, combative and capable of exploiting Tunisian goalkeeping weaknesses.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]