A goal two minutes from time by Ghana has put Angola in the semi-finals of the Under-20 African Nations Cup finals in Ethiopia. Angola were playing against Nigeria and leading 2-0, while at the Addis Ababa stadium, Mali led Ghana 1-0 until the 88th minute when the vital goal was scored.

Victory for the Malians would have seen them through to the semi-finals, no matter what the margin of the score line Angola would have won. But Mali blew up their chance after a foul was committed on the edge of the penalty box. Ishmael Addo went on to chip the ball over the free-kick defensive wall to snatch the equaliser for Ghana.

Mali had taken the lead 12th minute through Mamadou Diallo. At the other venue, Angola went ahead in the 43rd minute from the penalty spot when skipper Gilberto Graca Amaral blasted the ball past Aiyenugba. Viana Mendonca was fouled by Nwaneri Obinna, as he tried to cut inside the box. Mantorras doubled the scores for Angola after 63 minutes, but with events at that same moment favouring Mali, the Angolan lead was almost fruitless.

But soon the Angolan bench were jubilating with news that Ghana had equalised. It was Angola's first win in the championship, but Mali were knocked out without losing a game in the tournament. The Malians drew with Nigeria (0-0), Angola (2-2) and Ghana (1-1).

For former champions, Nigeria, it was a disastrous outing in Ethiopia after two defeats and a draw. The Flying Eagles also conceded the most number of goals losing 4-1 to Ghana. A red card five minutes from time pulled the last straw on the Nigerians when Mohamed Lawal was given his matching orders for a second bookable offence.

So Ghana finished top in the group with seven points, while Angola have four points.

Only one venue was prepared to stage the Under-20 Nations Cup, but Caf was forced to switch one of the games to a makeshift stadium in Addis Ababa following the violence that marred the group A matches on Saturday. The games between Cameroon and Egypt; South Africa against Ethiopia were postponed and will be played today.

Ghana and Angola will know their semi-final opponents today and Africa's four representatives for the Under-20 World Cup finals in Argentina would also be complete.