Mali players lost their cool on center-referee Abdel after the latter blew the final whistle in the heated AFCON quarterfinal showdown against Ivory Coast.
After a barren first-half draw, Dene raced Mali into the lead in the 71st minute but 10-man Ivory Coast fought back at the stroke of the final minutes to level terms.
The match went into extra time but the two sides were unable to break the tie until the final touch of the game. Ivory Coast had won and took a freekick close to Mali’s box. The Malian defense cleared the freekick but the rebound was fired back into the penalty area where Diakite was left unmarked to flick it with his backheel into the net.
The goal was virtually the last touch of the ball as the game had entered the final added time of extra time.
However, Mali were still hopeful of a late magic to level terms again after resuming play at the center. They quickly ramped up pressure on Ivory Coast and won a corner-kick a few seconds after the extra time added time was exhausted.
Center-referee Abdel refused to allow Mali take the corner-kick as he blew the final whistle bringing the match to an end with Ivory Coast scraping to an unlikely 2-1 victory.
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Mali players were left fuming with Abdel at the blast of the final whistle for not allowing them to take the late corner kick. In a viral footage available at the end of this post, Hamare Traore, a Real Sociedad defender, shoved and pushed Abdel and was brandished with a red card after the game.
Other Mali players joined Traore in confronting Abdel in a furious fallout that nearly descended into a brawl.
Before things spilled out of control, other match officials stepped in and cordoned off Abdel to safety away from the pitch.
— Out Of Context Football (@nocontextfooty) February 3, 2024
Ivory Coast’s fairytale run in the 2023 AFCON continued with the dramatic comeback victory over the Malians.
The Elephants will take on Dr Congo in the semifinals of the competition while Nigeria plays South Africa in the other semifinals.
