In the Africa Cup qualifiers, Mali fulfilled their duty in South Sudan in injury time. Against the underdogs, the favourites made life difficult for themselves twice over.
Everything looked like a draw between South Sudan and Mali, when the guests from West Africa pulled out their last option: In the 90th minute, the Salzburg striker Koita entered the field – and provided the celebrated goal in a furious injury time.
The team around the two Bundesliga players Samassekou (TSG Hoffenheim) and Haidara (RB Leipzig) had only themselves to blame for the fact that it had come so far against an opponent who was inferior on paper. Barely half an hour had elapsed before Kouyaté put the ball into his own net to give South Sudan the lead (29th minute).
Double strike wins against own goal and sending off
The visitors could not find an answer in the first half, it took until the 58th minute before Camara, also active in Salzburg, scored the redeeming equaliser for Mali. Exactly twenty minutes later, however, Koné gave his team the second leg, earning himself a red card. The Group G leaders were forced to play out the final quarter of an hour with a deficit.
It was to take until Koita’s substitution before the scoreboard was enriched by an entry. The Salzburg player had been on the pitch for less than three minutes when he actually scored the 2:1 for his team (90.+3). However, those who had assumed that the final score would be the same were proved wrong as the euphoric visitors even added a third goal through Dieng (90.+5) in a shorthanded game against a dismayed home side and consolidated their lead in the standings on the way to the African continental championship with the 3:1 result.
