This year’s edition of the Africa Nations Championship semifinals will serve up a couple of mouthwatering matches after Morocco and Guinea qualified for the penultimate round of the competition.
Morocco defeated 10-man Zambia 3-1 at the Stade de la Réunification in Douala while Guinea edged Rwanda 1-0 at the Limbe Stadium in Limbe in a match that saw both teams reduced to 10 men.
This means the defending champions Morocco will face hosts Cameroon and 2016 finalists Mali will play Guinea on Wednesday.
In Douala, Morocco raced into a 3-0 lead by halftime courtesy of goals from Soufiane Rahimi, Mohammed Bemammer and Ayoub El Kaabi while Zambia saw Zachariah Chilongoshi dismissed after just 20 minutes. Moses Phiri netted a late consolation just before full-time.
In Limbe, Guinea overcame the early dismissal of Mouri Kante in just the 11th minute with Morlaye Sylla’s goal on the hour mark proving decisive. Rwanda, who were second best despite the man advantage for more than 40 minutes, had Olivier Kwizera sent off eight minutes before Sylla struck.
The winners of the semifinals will advance to the final at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in the capital Yaoundé on Sunday while the losers will play in the third-place playoff at the Stade de la Réunification on Saturday.
