It took a
86th-minute stunner from Carly Ekongo to rescue a point for Congo as they held
Sudan 1-1 in a pulsating Group D battle under the lights at Amaan Stadium.
Zig Diaries
Sports
Date: Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Time: 20:10 WAT
Location: 📍Zanzibar, Tanzania
Drama.
Passion. Last-minute fireworks. Congo and Sudan opened their CHAN 2024 campaign
with a fierce 1-1 draw — and the story was far from simple.
Musa Hussien
gave Sudan a deserved first-half lead in the 29th minute, capitalising on a
rebound after his initial shot was saved by Ulrich Samba. It looked like Sudan,
the more composed of the two early on, were headed for three points.
But Congo
had other ideas.
“We didn’t
come to just participate,”
Ekongo seemed to scream with his boot when he rifled home a late equaliser in
the 86th minute — the Red Devils’ first goal in open play at CHAN since 2020.
Coach
Barthélemy Ngatsono’s triple substitution paid off, with Ekongo, Grace
Mavoungou and Grace Nsemi injecting pace and hunger in the second half. The
Congolese bench erupted when the goal came, sparking a frantic finish to the
game.
Sudan had
their moments — especially in added time — with Mazin Simbo almost nicking a
winner. But Samba stood tall again in goal, denying them with reflex saves that
drew applause from even neutral fans.
Both sides
now sit behind Group D leaders Senegal, who edged Nigeria earlier in the day. With Nigeria and Sudan still to clash,
and Congo set to battle the defending champions next, Group D is shaping up to
be a proper ‘Group of Drama’.
#CHAN2024 #CongoVsSudan #AfricanFootball #ZigSports #Pamoja2024
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