African Nations Cup: Draw Sends Sparrow Hawks To Quarterfinals

Group-stage play in the African Nations Cup concluded with two Group D contests played in South Africa on Wednesday.

At Rustenberg:

Goals from Didier Drogba (77') and Wilfried Bony (81') enabled Ivory Coast, who already locked up a berth in the quarterfinal round, to come back from a two-goal deficit to gain a 2-2 draw with Algeria.  Sofiane Feghouli (PK-64') and El Arbi Hillel Soudani (70') each delivered a goal for the already-eliminated Foxes.

At Nelspruit:

Serge Gakpe scored in the 13th minute as Togo gained a 1-1 draw with Tunisia and locked up the last remaining available berth in the knockout stage.  Khaled Mouelhi converted a penalty kick in the 30th minute for the Eagles of Carthage, who needed a win to advance but instead saw their tournament come to an end.

FINAL GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. Ivory Coast (GP: 3; GD: +4; PTS: 7)
2. Togo (GP: 3; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. Tunisia (GP: 3; GD: -2; PTS: 4)
4. Algeria (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 1)

Ivory Coast and Togo advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Here are the match-ups for this weekend's quarterfinal-round contests:

SATURDAY:

At Durban:

South Africa vs. Mali

At Port Elizabeth:

Ghana vs. Cape Verde Islands

SUNDAY:

At Rustenburg:

Ivory Coast vs. Nigeria

At Nelspruit:

Burkina Faso vs. Togo