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South Africa won the Africa Cup of Nations game 3-2 over Zimbabwe on Monday, earning qualification for the knockout stages thanks to Oswin Appollis’ late penalty.

Bafana Bafana must announce their opponent for the round of 16 on Wednesday. Ivory Coast, the defending champion, or Cameroon, the five-time champion, are likely to win.

Egypt, which rested stars like Mohamed Salah and has already secured first place, won Group B with seven points in Agadir’s 0-0 draw against Angola.

Zimbabwe had one point each, while South Africa had six and Angola had two. One of the top four third-placed teams, Angelo, might be able to reach the knockout stages.

South African Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), was among the small but obnoxious crowds at Marrakech that saw Bafana Bafana gain traction early on.

Appollis’ low sixth-minute shot, which Zimbabwe goalkeeper Washington Arubi, was intercepted just before the line, and he grasped the ball.

South Africa was ahead in the conflict of neighboring countries a minute later when Tshepang Moremi, a rising star, was on hand.

Moremi received the ball playing across the pitch just outside the box. A deflection off Divine Lunga led to the release of a goal-bound shot that lobbed over 40-year-old Arubi into the net.

Zimbabwe fell short of its goals, but Motherwell’s Scottish Premiership side Tawanda Maswanhise scored the winning goal in the 19th minute to give them adeserved victory.

Read more about Late Penalty Miss’s Deny Uganda’s AFCON victory over Tanzania

 Frustrations 

Maswanhise dribbled past two opponents to score the ball into the far corner, which the South African national’s captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams had already received.

South Africa was blasted by the equalizer. They were fortunate not to fall behind as the match drew near the half-hour mark, which was a bronze medallist at the 2024 AFCON.

Unmarked Munashe Garananga should have headed the ball head-over from close range after a Zimbabwe free kick was floated into the goalmouth.

Just before half-time, South Africa’s frustrations with being unable to dominate erupted. Sipho Mbule, who had already been warned, got into a fight with the Moroccan referee, putting himself at risk of receiving a second yellow and a red.

South Africa aggressively began the second period, as was the case in the first half. Lyle Foster, a Burnley striker, gave them a 50-minute lead back.

The veteran goalkeeper outsprinted the veteran goalkeeper as the player raced after receiving a headed back pass from Arubi, who was slow to reacting.

After scoring against Angola, the 25-year-old scored the winner of the tournament. The only South African player in the major European league right now is him.

Maswanhise was a constant threat throughout the second half, and he almost equaled scoring again. A shot from the box’s edge was bent to the post by him.

After soaking up some pressure for a while, Aubrey Modiba scored an own goal on 73 minutes.

Maswanhise found himself parried by Williams after receiving a superb long pass from substitute Tawanda Chirewa. Modiba was struck by the rebound and rolled into the net.

Appollis then scored from a penalty in the 82nd minute to give Bafana a third consecutive lead, which they successfully kept.

The countries are getting a sense of how far they must still go on the pitch at the upcoming edition in Morocco as Uganda and Tanzania co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

The major continental powers have long faced early elimination from this AFCON in crucial group games on Tuesday, and the East African countries have long struggled to compete with them.

Tanzania and Tanzania meet Tunisia, both of whom almost certainly need victories to advance to the last 16.

Since reaching the 1978 final, only one victory has been recorded for Uganda at three different AFCON competitions. Tanzania have never won a game and are just their fourth Cup of Nations appearance.

Read more about Appollis’ Penalty that sends South Africa past Zimbabwe in the final 16 of the AFCON.

On Saturday, the teams drew 1-1 in Rabat, with Uganda equalizing before missing a late penalty.

Coach Miguel Angel Gamondi told AFP, “We are the fourth-weakest team in the Africa Cup of Nations, but we have played two games at a higher level.”

The Argentinian, who had previously played for Tanzania’s Singida Black Stars, was hired on the day of the tournament.

Despite having an estimated population of more than 70 million, which is the fourth-largest on the continent, Tanzania is ranked 112th and 27th in Africa. They suffered a close defeat to Nigeria as they kicked off their AFCON campaign.

– “Change The Mentality”

“I want to change the mindset of these players, show that we can compete, and put them in a winning mindset,” Gamondi said. “If we are already 112, I hope we can be lower than 100 in a few days,” he said.

Although Tanzania finished third in their group, there were indications of progress in World Cup qualifying, according to Gamondi, who is aware that things must have to change.

According to Gamondi, “One of the issues in Tanzania is that clubs can field 12 foreign players,” adding that this is because Young Africans and Simba, the continent’s top sides, are so successful.

Infrastructure is also a significant issue, according to the author. No high-quality pitches are present. The lack of youth development is, in my opinion, the biggest issue.

Because in the local league, there is no competition and players can’t grow up, what we need in Tanzania is good players who can go to Europe to compete and develop there.

Ally Samatta, a former Aston Villa striker from France, is Tanzania’s biggest star. The majority of their AFCON squad plays at home, and they also have fourth- and fifth-tier English players.

Uganda has a significantly higher ranking. Their squad also lacks elite experience, despite ranking 17th in Africa and 85th in the world.

Belgian coach Paul Put, a coach for Uganda, said, “We have a very young team and my responsibility is to build a team for 2027.”

We must be fit with strong players for 2027.

At least they are here to gain that knowledge because 113th-ranked Kenya has lost its previous three AFCON competitions.

Ruben Amorim, manager of Manchester United, insisted that he must create a formation before instructing his squad to play tactically flexible football because succumbing to media pressure would have been “the end” for him.

In Friday’s 1-0 win over Newcastle, Amorim switched from a back three to wing-backs and instead used a conventional back four with two holding midfielders.

The Portuguese boss once remarked that no Pope, not even the Portuguese, could force him to switch up his system.

Amorim, who is currently three points adrift of a Champions League spot, insisted he was never as obstinate as he had initially claimed.

Before Tuesday’s game against relegation-threatened Wolves at Old Trafford, he said, “I came here last season, I realized maybe I don’t have the players play well in that system, but it was the start of a process.”

We were attempting to create an identity. Today has a different significance. We need to adapt because we don’t have many players and they need to understand why we’re changing.

READ MORE: Arsenal Retain Their Premier League Top Spot With A Win Over Brighton

The 40-year-old former Sporting Lisbon boss added: “When you (the media) talk about changing the system all the time, I can’t change because the players will understand that I’m changing because of you, and I believe the manager’s career is over.”

The moment to change is when we play well in our system.

Because we won’t play with three defenders all the time when all the players return, we will become a better team.

Seven senior players will miss the game against bottom-of-the-table Wolves, who have won 18 Premier League games this season, having only two victories in eight games prior to beating Newcastle.

Bruno Fernandes, the club captain, will miss the Wolves game despite telling his manager that he wants to play again after suffering a hamstring injury in the team’s defeat at Aston Villa on December 21.

Bruno already needs to train, according to Amorim.

“But there’s no way he’s going to play against Wolves,” he said. No chance . That is what you can write.

The 31-year-old playmaker will, however, continue to influence the game.

Amorim remarked, “The guy is a leader.” He can’t possibly be that person who doesn’t talk or speak when he’s not playing. He speaks without stopping. He is the captain because of this.

On Tuesday, Unai Emery makes his first managerial failure appearance and aims to sever a significant blow to former Premier League champion Arsenal’s long-awaited goal of winning the first title in 22 years.

Emery’s second season in English football was a completely different story. He was dismissed by the Gunners in 2019.

The Spaniard has awakened a slumbering Villa fan, turning the Birmingham-based club from battling relegation to defending their first league title since 1981.

Villa’s winning streak at all levels now stands at 11, which is their longest winning streak since 1914, with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea on Saturday.

Despite failing to win any of their first six matches of the season, Emery’s men are now three points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table.

“We are doing a very good job.” We are third in the league, trailing only Manchester City and Arsenal at the same time. Emery commanded admiration after he orchestrated a second-half turnaround at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

READ ALSO: With a victory over Brighton, Arsenal Retain Premier League top spot.

Before the Blues’ triple substitution at the hour mark changed the game, Villa were ahead 1-0.

Ollie Watkins praised his manager’s switch of system as “tactical genius” after he came off the bench to score twice.

Few people think Villa will be able to survive 20 more games against Arsenal and City’s much greater wealth and squad depth.

However, a title challenge is only the start of a trend that has grown since Emery took over as leader more than three years ago.

The Villains have qualified for continental competition for the past three years following a 13-year absence from Europe, which included a three-year stint in the second-tier championship.

Paris Saint-Germain reached the Champions League quarter-finals with a score of 5-4 overall in Villa Park in April, but they were out of luck. This was their first major success.

Birmingham was also defeated earlier this month by Arsenal, who have lost just once in their last 24 games overall.

However, it’s frequently seen that Emery triumphs over his former employers.

In 10 meetings against Arsenal, the 54-year-old has lost just twice, including a 2-0 victory at the Emirates in April 2024, which ultimately cost Mikel Arteta’s men the title.

Even with the benefit of retrospective observation, Emery’s disastrous 18 months in north London were not at all disastrous.

In his final year in charge, he inherited a club that was in decline during Wenger’s final years, but he only managed to make it a close call for Champions League qualification in the Europa League final.

Villa’s advantage has been lost at Arsenal.

Arsenal will continue to be the outsiders in a three-horse race for the time being, but Emery’s men will put an end to any doubters who think they are serious contenders.

In the January transfer window, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta claims that his Premier League leaders will be “actively looking” at strengthening their squad.

For their crucial game against high-flying Aston Villa at the Emirates on Tuesday, the Gunners might need up to four defenders.

For Arsenal’s tense win over Brighton on Saturday, which kept them two points clear of title rivals Manchester City, Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White, and Cristhian Mosquera were all absent.

In addition to the over £250 million ($337 million) that was spent on eight new hires during the summer transfer window, Arteta plans to add more recruits the following month.

What do we need, you ask? “We are Arsenal, and we need to be looking at it,” I say. The north London club, who has submitted its bid to become the first team to win England for the first time since 2004, said that we must be actively looking and then, whether we can do it or not, is a different story.

INCLUDE   According to Arteta, Arsenal will bounce back from the Aston Villa Blow.

However, the Spanish boss continued, “Our job is to always be very prepared because something might occur, so we can expect a lot of positive things.”

There are 24 or 25 squad players at other clubs, according to the article. We want to be better, and we are aware of how crucial it is to have the right players available this year despite having more injuries than we anticipated, some of which are preventable. ”

With a stoppage-time 2-1 victory over Arteta’s men on December 6, Villa put an end to Arsenal’s 11-game unbeaten run in league play.

The Birmingham club is gearing up for Tuesday’s game knowing that a third victory would put them on par with Arsenal, which is a club record 11th straight win in all competitions.

When asked if a Villa side led by former Arsenal boss Unai Emery were contenders for the title, Arteta responded, “They are meant to be there when you look at what they are doing, how consistent they have been, and what Unai has done with the club.

They fully deserve that praise because they are demonstrating their level during the pitch.

We want them to suffer and be just as dominant as we were against Brighton for the majority of the game, though, for every opponent who comes here.

We are aware of our opponent’s difficult match. We’ll watch Villa’s final game, and I have some suggestions for what we should do better.

We lost it quite a bit, but we have learned from it, and we can use it as inspiration and hunger in the right way. ”

Anthony Joshua, a world-renowned boxing champion, was involved in a fatal accident on Monday in the Ogun State Makun region. &nbsp,

Two people were killed in the incident, which occurred on Monday around 11 o’clock along the heavily traveled Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

According to reports, a stationary truck and an SUV carrying Joshua collided. Officials are still looking into the exact circumstances of the crash, though, to ascertain what caused it.

The 35-year-old former heavyweight champion was reportedly hurt when she was rescued from the wrecked car on a video of the incident.

Authorities in the state’s south-western region have not yet released a statement about the incident, and it is still unknown who caused the boxer’s injuries or who died.

In Six-Round Controversial Bout, Anthony Joshua knocks out Jake Paul, according to &nbsp.

Olusegun Ogungbemide, an assistant corps marshal and corps public education officer, signed an official statement confirming the incident from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

The crash involved a stationary truck and a Lexus SUV, according to the FRSC.

A stationary red commercial Sinotruck with an unidentified registration number and a black Lexus Jeep with the registration number KRD 850 HN (private) were involved in the incident. The crash involved five adult males total.

“Two people tragically lost their lives, one of whom was hurt, and the other of whom escaped unharmed. Anthony Joshua was saved, still alive, and with minor wounds.

The statement read, “The injured victim was evacuated for medical attention, while the deceased’s remains were transported to Livewell Morgue, Ajaka, Sagamu.”

The Nigeria Police Motor Traffic Division (MTD) was promptly notified for additional investigation and necessary documentation, it was noted.

Preliminary findings from the FRSC show that the Lexus Jeep, which was suspected of going over the permitted speed limit on the corridor, lost control during an overtaking maneuver and collided with a truck that was loaded by the side of the road.

Overuse of speed and wrongful overtaking are the primary causes of fatal road crashes on Nigerian highways, according to FRSC, which continue to be one of the leading causes of fatal crashes.

Shehu Mohammed, the Corps Marshal, expressed his condolences to the deceased’s families and wished Anthony Joshua, the injured victim, a quick recovery.

The Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, one of the fastest high-speed corridors in the country, should be avoided, along with dangerous overtaking, excessive speed, and disregard for traffic laws, according to FRSC.