Senegal victory extends Sima’s involvement
Marseille striker Ismaila Sarr starred as defending Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal eased their way into the last 16 with a 3-1 win over Cameroon.
Sarr’s deflected strike gave his side a 16th-minute lead and it was he who set up fellow frontman Habib Diallo after the break before Sadio Mane cemented victory at Stade Charles Konan Banny in stoppage time to guarantee his side’s progression from Group C.
Cameroon responded belatedly when Jeancharles Castelletto powered home a header from Olivier Ntcham’s 83rd-minute cross and Georges-kevin Nkoudou was guilty of a glaring miss before Mane scored. But Rigobert Song’s men will head into Tuesday’s final group fixture against Gambia with just a single point to their name.
The result also means that Rangers will now be without their forward Abdallah Sima until the start of next month at least. The last 16 of the competition takes place in the final week of January, with Senegal expected to reach the latter stages of the competition.
Sima – who was an unused substitute in Senegal’s opening match – was not even named among the substitutes for the victory in Yamoussoukro but could
be utilised if manager Aliou Cisse decides to rotate his squad for the match against Guinea on Tuesday.
In Group B, Cape Verde became the first team to qualify for the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-0 victory over Mozambique.
Bebe’s extraordinary free-kick and a brace from Ryan Mendes in Abidjan guaranteed that the Blue Sharks will top their pool. Mozambique now lie bottom of the section with one point ahead of their final group game against Ghana, while Cape Verde meet Egypt on Monday.
Bebe had already crashed a dipping 30-yard free-kick against the crossbar, and the former Manchester United striker was not to be denied from an even greater distance. There appeared little danger as Bebe stood over a free-kick fully 40 yards out, but his swerving shot bamboozled keeper Ernan Siluane who could only palm the ball into the net.