AFCON 2025 match-day two serves drama, delight with a touch of culture as Mali fail to win their first group game, South Africa jump to the summit of Group-B plus Egypt grapple against Zimbabwe.
Round-one of Group-A games have been wound up – Morocco books the summit whiles Mali and Zambia couldn’t help it than to spilt up points and Comoros humbly secure the fourth place spot on the group table.
- Post match analysis of Mali vs Zambia.
- Match Analysis On South Africa vs Angola.
- Egypt face reality after Zimbabwe hold the African kings accountable.
At the Stade Mohammed V today, Mali were scheduled to take on fellow Africans, Zambia as the second group game of the Group-A table. Mali’s intentions were clear right from the blast of whistle however, the indecisiveness of the attacking trio hindered any goals to be recorded in the first-half of the game.
The Penalty miss by El Bilal Toure on the 42nd minute in the first badge of the game did not cause any qualms for the Malians as they showed more intent and hunger to break the deadlock of the game through the effort of Lassine Sinayoko – taking advantage of a corner kick which was porously defended by the Zambian side.
Further, after Zambia had conceded, their game automatically change – they were now expressing themselves as they now made more enquiries upfront making use of their quality attackers.
Up until the 73rd minute, Zambia had registered any shot on target which indicated that, the had a game plan of defending and avoid any defeat. After they conceded, the tempo of their game had increase – more attacks were being initiated and in stoppage time, Patson Daka, the goal poacher made his presence felt when a sublime cross from Banda was directed into the pole and there – the stadium literally erupted as the Zambian fans went “mad” after noticing that they have equalized.
Delving Into Group-B games
In a group made of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola and Egypt, – South Africa were paired to have an encounter with Angola whiles Egypt had the opportunity to play against a regular customer Zimbabwe.
Post-Match Analysis of South Africa vs Angola
In referencing the preview analysis we served you prior to this thrilling encounter, clearly stipulated all the possible outcomes of today’s game between South Africa and Angola hence, much deliberations would not be asserted on the game.
However, one thing stood out in today’s encounter, in as much as football has improved and is still undergoing development in these various nations who have not been cited to be “football nations”, South Africa as a nation has invested properly into their football and they are reaping their results in friendly games and tournament which further emphasize the fact that, their qualification to the forthcoming World Cup ahead of Nigeria was not a fluke.
Now, back to the game, the Bafana Bafana were in absolute control right from the inception of the game – every aspect of the game, the defense was formidable, and their front-two attack led by Mbule and Lyle Foster were on fire.
Considerably, Angola served football fans with good football yet, it was not enough – after they levelled up, they just coiled back into their shelf with intentions of securing a point out of the game but Lyle Foster of South Africa had it all sorted out after slotting a curler into the back of the net on the 79th minute.
Egypt Face Reality After Zimbabwe Hold Them Accountable
Without any iota of doubt, Egypt’s skirmish performance against Zimbabwe in their first group game has cause a lot of mayhem in the camp of the historic seven-time champions being led by Mohammed Salah.
In the first five minutes, Egypt were poised to make their presence felt in the early stages of the game – after having failed to break the virginity of the game, the Warriors eventually calmed their nerves as they picked up the pieces to begin to exploits their chances of making an impact in the game.
It didn’t take too long for Emmanuel Jalai to orchestrate a goal scoring chance for Prince Dube to stun the Pharaohs on the 20th minute. The goal was enough to hand over the lead to his side as they head into the first-half break.
The inception of the second-half of action saw a different Egypt which showed a lot of purpose and hunger to get back into the game. On the 64th minute, the third most valuable player in the 2025 AFCON tournament, Omar Marmoush made it count this time around after squandering numerous chances in the first-half to register the equalizing goal for Egypt.
Now, the restart of the game saw substitute Zizo dissipate glorious goal-scoring opportunity to handover the lead to his side yet, in stoppage time, the ever reliable Prem star, Mohammed Salah burry the sublime pass from Mostafa Mohammed into the net to seal the complete comeback against Zimbabwe.
