by Jerrad Peters
The carnival lasted almost 80 minutes. And what a spectacle. In the grand opening of Luanda's new, cavernous November 11 Stadium, more than 50,000 people sang, danced and smiled for nearly an hour and a half without interruption.
Angola—hosts of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations—were dominating their first match of the competition against Mali. Imperious on the pitch, they brought a 4-0 lead into the final moments of the contest and looked to have the three points in the bag. Their exuberance was mirrored by their supporters. From kickoff to the 79th minute, the rhythm in the stands was pulsating, the colors vibrant—an atmosphere that only the Cup of Nations could provide.
Mali midfielder Seydou Keita's late goal did little to spoil the party. Freddie Kanoute's strike in the 82nd minute came as only a slight annoyance. But the place went dead when Keita's second tally brought the guests to within a goal just two minutes later, and Mustapha Yatabare's injury time equalizer completed the conversion from ecstasy to agony.
"This draw tasted like defeat to me," said Angola coach Manuel Jose after the final whistle. "This is one of the most bitter pills I've ever had to swallow in all the matches of my long career. We were supposed to win this game, but we gave up at the end."
Did they ever. After controlling every aspect of the game for 79 minutes, Angola's capitulation was as comprehensive as their earlier play had been dominant. Explosive in attack, the Black Antelopes had looked unstoppable in front of Malian goalkeeper Mahamadou Sidibe. Al-Alhy playmaker Sebastiao Gilberto was particularly dangerous. His free kick in the 37th minute was cleverly directed into goal by national icon Flavio, and he wrote his own name on the scoresheet when he converted a penalty in the 67th minute to put his side 3-0 ahead.
In between, Flavio's second header had given Angola a 2-0 lead. The provision was courtesy of Alberto Jose Mabina, who ran Mali left-back Adama Tamboura into the ground over the 90 minutes. A constant threat, the 22-year-old Petro Atletico winger has already surfaced as one of the top young talents of the competition.
Ironically, Jose's use of four, pure attacking players is what victimized his team in the end. With Gilberto, Flavio, Mabinda and Manucho pressing constantly forward, the Angolan defense was always vulnerable. On the back-foot for most of the game, Mali's attackers were unable to take advantage of the situation until the 79th minute, by which time Manucho had given Angola a 4-0 lead.
All it took was a single opportunity. With the hosts sitting back and awaiting the final whistle, Keita stroked the ball past Fernando Carlos Alberto after a scrum in front of the Angolan 'keeper. Kanoute—anonymous to this point—halved the deficit with a 15-yard header in 88th minute, and Keita completed his brace with a clean finish from a tight angle to Fernando's right.
With five minutes of time added to the 90, Mali's fourth goal now seemed inevitable. And it arrived with 30 seconds to play, when Yatabare took advantage of more poor defending to score the equalizer.
In just 11 minutes, the storyline in Luanda had changed from one of Angolan dominance to the most unlikely comeback in the history of the Cup of Nations.
"I just couldn't imagine we could fight back like that," said Keita. "We wanted to win, but of course we are happy to get a point in the end. We were bad in the first half. Mentally, we weren't really at the races… There is a lot to correct before the next match."
Angola will be thinking the same thing. They next play Malawi on Thursday, and will need study exactly what went wrong in the final moments on Sunday. Malawi, meanwhile, shocked World Cup-bound Algeria with a 3-0 win on Monday and have the early edge on first place in Group A.
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