Tottenham Hotspur striker Freddie Kanoute stole the headlines on Monday as he scored twice to give Mali an opening 3-1 in the African Nations Cup over Kenya while co-favourites Senegal could only draw 0-0 with Burkina Faso in the other Group B match.
Kanoute (26) justified his controversial switch of allegiance from France to Mali by scoring twice in the clash at Bizerte and then proclaimed that the day marked a new beginning.
The Spurs striker rescued his side against a brave Kenyan outfit who had fought back to level at 1-1 in the second half before Kanoute turned on the magic.
”Today is the beginning of something special for me. I am very happy but it’s only the start. I have to keep going like this and keep fighting for this country because it’s very important for me,” said Kanoute.
”We scored three very good goals and even when they came back to level we didn’t panic. We kept our shape and kept our game.”
Valencia’s Mohamed Lamine Sissoko, who also switched to Mali despite having played for the French Under-21s, had given Mali the lead in the first half after a disastrous mix-up between two Kenyan defenders before Titus Mulama equalised after the interval.
But that paved the way for Kanoute, Spurs’ top scorer this season with 12 goals, to make his dramatic impact and to kill off any hope the Kenyans had of an upset victory.
In Tunis, 2002 World Cup quarter-finalists Senegal created a host of chances but had to settle for a 0-0 draw with 1998 Nations Cup semi-finalists Burkina Faso.
”We wil enjoy ourselves tonight and then think about the next game against Mali,” said Burkina coach Jean-Paul Rabier.
”Senegal were a very hard side to break down and they caused us plenty of problems. They were very impressive but we managed to contain them. With luck we could have won but we have a point in the table.
”But make no mistake, Senegal will be there at the end of the group stage.”
Senegal skipper Aliou Cisse said he was frustrated that they couldn’t break down the Burkina Faso defence.
”Teams like us all want to win. We have been working hard and we had one or two chances to kill the game but we didn’t take them. That’s football.”
Senegal would not have been flattered by a three-goal lead at half-time after controlling the first half, but Henri Camara and Mamadou Niang let Burkina Faso off the hook.
Liverpool striker El Hadji Diouf did threaten on one occasion inside the penalty area only to overdo the twists and turns and the ball was cleared.
The second half started with the Lions continuing to press forward and Wolves’ Camara was unlucky in the 54th minute as his snapshot rattled a post.
Burkina Faso hit back and Abdoulaye Cisse almost caught out Senegal when he broke clear only to be let down by poor ball control inside the box and the group favourites scrambled the ball away. – Sapa-AFP