Sensation from Jordan, thrillers from Qatar and Nigeria, fortitude from Côte d'Ivoire: what do you remember about the semi-finals of the Asian and African Cups?

South Korea's Amazing Departure

The South Korean team was rightly considered the main favorite of the Asian Cup. In the playoffs, she knocked out the powerful teams of Saudi Arabia and Australia and, in addition, demonstrated her fighting spirit, saving twice in stoppage time. That’s why Jurgen Klinsmann’s charges were bound not to even notice Jordan.

The more surprising was the success of the underdog. The players of Husin Ammut, who almost turned out to be stronger than the Koreans at the group stage, played tactically competently. They gave the ball to the opponent and blocked all the free zones in their own half. As a result, the giant had great difficulty penetrating the opponent's penalty area and creating chances. The only thing I remember was Lee Kang-in hitting the post in the first half.

But the Jordanians brilliantly took advantage of counterattacks after the break. First, they crushed their opponents with pressure and forced turnovers. Next, Moussa Al-Tamari brought Yazan Al-Naimat one on one with Cho Hyun-wo with a brilliant cutting pass, and the forward calmly threw it over. And then Al-Tamari himself curled a shot into the far range from outside the penalty area. The shocked Asian Tigers could not even organize the final assault, although they had enough time left.

And “Nashama” created a real miracle, because before at the continental championship they had reached, at best, the quarterfinals, and in the FIFA rankings they occupied a modest 87th place.

Moreover, it contains no bright stars. Only Al-Tamari stands out, defending the colors of the French Montpellier. The rest compete mainly in the local national championship or neighboring countries. For comparison, the authoritative portal Transfermarkt estimates the value of the national team roster at €13.65 million, and Son Heung-min alone at €50 million.

But Jordan can well be called a star coaching team. The Moroccan Ammuta led her to success. Previously, he won many trophies in his homeland, including the African equivalent of the Champions League, and even led the local team for a short time, although he failed to achieve serious results.

Azmoun's overhead kick goal

The second semi-final, in which Iran met Qatar, turned out to be much louder. The main thing is that it turned out to be meaningful and playful. Already in the fourth minute, former Rostov, Rubin and Zenit striker Serdar Azmun scored a beautiful goal. After a throw-in, a discount from Said Ezzatollahi and an unsuccessful clearance by his opponent, the footballer sent the ball into the net with an overhead kick.

However, the hosts quickly restored the balance. The main hero of the confrontation, Akram Afif, raced along the right side and completed the assist for Jassem Abulsallam. In this situation, the midfielder was lucky, because the projectile jumped into the goal thanks to a ricochet from the defender’s back.

And shortly before the break, Afif himself, with a beautiful twisting shot from outside the penalty area, left no chance for Alireza Beiranvand. For him, this goal was his fifth in the tournament, and in the scoring race he is second only to Aymen Hussein, whose Iraqi team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Akram is also one of the best assistants; he leads in the “goal + pass” system (5 + 3).

To the credit of the guests, they did not give up and managed to come back in the second half. The mistake of Ahmed Fathi helped, as the ball hit his hand in his own penalty area after Ezzatollahi's shot. After watching the replay, the judges were not afraid to award a penalty, which was converted by Alireza Jahanbaksh. The denouement came in the 82nd minute, when many already thought that a draw could not be avoided. However, Saman Ghoddos' poor shot unexpectedly turned into an assist for Almoez Ali.

But nothing was clear until the very end, especially since the referee added almost 20 minutes to the main time. In the 93rd, Shoja Khalilzadeh received a straight red card for disrupting a promising attack. Immediately Jahanbaksh almost equalized the score, but hit the post. However, the burgundy ones could have widened the gap.

As a result, they solved the main problem and continue to defend the trophy won in 2019. And if you evaluate the level of opponents in the final, Tintin Marquez’s team has a good chance of retaining it. However, Jordan has repeatedly made it clear at this championship that it is dangerous to underestimate it.

Nwabili's saves in the penalty shootout

Meanwhile, in the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations there were no sensations, although South Africa gave a fight to Nigeria. Moreover, in the first half the South Africans looked like the best venerable opponents. They had more possession of the ball and made good forward passes to the quick Percy Tau and Evidence Makgopa. Stanley Nwabili had to act regularly at exits. Although there were almost no truly killer moments, Hugo Broos' team almost opened the scoring when the goalkeeper parried Makgopa's shot with a spectacular jump. The “superols” didn’t create anything at all.

But after the break they sharply improved. The replacements of Jose Pezeiro also helped. The favorite transferred the ball to the opposing half and increased the pressure. After an hour it bore fruit. Victor Osimhen on the right edge twisted three opponents at once, and for some reason Motobi Mwala flew into his feet. And William Trost-Ekong confidently converted the penalty kick.

Bafana Bafana had no choice but to move forward, but the Nigerians were still more active. They could well remove all questions before the end of regular time. Consider Ademola Lookman's one-on-one, which Ronwen Williams neutralized in a risky jump.

And literally in the next attack, Osimhen still forced him to capitulate. But this was far from the end. While the greens were rejoicing in advance about entering the decisive confrontation, the referees watched a replay of the episode. As a result, they established that even in the initial stage of the attack, Alhassan Yusuf hit Tau’s legs in his own penalty area and pointed to the “point”. Teboho Mokoena simply had no right not to take advantage of the unexpected chance that presented itself.

In the 96th minute, Khuliso Mudau almost brought South Africa into the final, but miraculously missed the target from the goal line after another save from Nwabili. And already in extra time, Bross's team remained in the minority. Grant Kekana was sent off for disrupting a dangerous attack.

In the “lottery,” Bafana Bafana looked more likely to be the favorite, because in the quarterfinals with Cape Verde, Williams made four saves at once. However, this time he did not help out even once, and in the case of the only Nigerian misfire, Ola Aina missed the target. But Nwabili performed above all praise, repelling the shots of Mokoena and Makgopa and leading his partners into the decisive match. And in general, Stanley can be called the best goalkeeper of the tournament, because in six matches he missed only twice and made goals in four of them.

Aller's fateful goal

Like the Asian Cup, the CAN final will not happen without the participation of the hosts. This time the Ivory Coast team did not force its fans to worry about the result, but calmly surpassed the DR Congo team in class.

Moreover, the first half turned out to be rather equal, and even the guests had a slight advantage at first. But shortly before the break, the “elephants” showed the difference in their class, creating two 100% chances. Sebastien Haller miraculously missed the target with his header from outside the goalkeeper's area, and Franck Kessier hit the post.

In the second half, Sebastien Desabre threw into battle the only representative of the RPL remaining in the fight, Theo Bongonda. The Spartak winger immediately outwitted three opponents and powerfully shot close from an acute angle, but failed to outwit Yahya Fofana.

However, this was a rare episode. The advantage of the Ivorians became more and more noticeable and eventually translated into an absolutely natural goal. And Aller, who had recovered from injury, managed to distinguish himself. He missed a clear chance before, but upset Lionel Mpasi-Nzau in a much less obvious moment. Taking advantage of Max Allen-Gradel's serve, he shot with a ricochet off the lawn, and the projectile flew into the net along an intricate trajectory.

The “leopards” had enough time to save themselves, but they were not even able to organize the final assault. But the favorite could easily increase the difference in the score. Aller alone almost scored a hat-trick.

Thus, the hosts created a beautiful fairy tale, because they managed to get to the decisive confrontation after failure in the group stage. Then they defeated only Guinea-Bissau and lost to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, and they conceded four unanswered goals from the latter. Despite this, the team reached the 1/8 finals from third place.

But the leadership of the local federation made a tough decision and dismissed Jean-Louis Gasse right during the tournament. And his place was taken by 40-year-old Emers Fae, who had virtually no experience of independent work. The castling fully justified itself. Moreover, in the playoffs, his players received not only the support of fans, but also fortune. What is the victory over Senegal in a penalty shootout and the thriller match with Mali worth?

And it is as symbolic as possible that the team was brought to the final by Aller, who was diagnosed with cancer in July 2022. But the striker recovered and returned to the field a few months later.