Luanda — Algeria and Mali both turned in tired-looking performances in only their second games at the African Nations Cup finals but the north Africans managed to turn off the snooze button in time and revive their tournament hopes.
Rafik Halliche's header just before the interval gave them a narrow 1-0 win and three precious points, keeping them in the tournament albeit without much conviction.
The header, from Karim Ziani's curling free kick, was Algeria's first real opportunity of the game and will come as a genuine relief to under-fire coach Rabah Saadane and his World Cup-bound team.
Mali had an extra day's rest but the exertions of having to fight back from four goals down against Angola in the opening game left them a pale shadow of the team which showed those capabilities.
Barcelona's Seydou Keita was among the more enterprising Mali players, but could conjure up little cohesion with his colleagues.
Frederic Kanoute was left out because of a bout of flu but Momo Sissoko of Juventus was brought in for his first game. His tackling was fierce but his passing out of sync.
Keita crashed into Karim Matmour in the third minute to earn a soft-looking free kick. While Mustapha Yattabare made a hash of the kick, Keita was still able almost to retrieve the situation and make something out of the set piece.
Tenema Ndiaye might have set up a great chance after just 10 minutes but wanted to take on one defender too many while Yattabare shot into the side netting soon after.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
But after the first quarter-hour, the match turned tepid and full of niggles. A pedantic Ugandan referee did not help the cause.
Yattabare set up a chance for Mali after 21 minutes when he picked up a sloppy Algerian defensive clearance but his inviting cross was not accepted by Ndiaye, just a yard behind the action.
The pivotal moment came after Mali's Boukary Soumare made a clumsy challenge on Yacine Bezazz and the resultant free kick taken by Ziani sat up perfectly for Halliche to power home the goal.
Algeria looked more lively after the interval with two real chances for Hassan Yebda – the first cannoning into the side netting and the second a fluffed opportunity on the 70th-minute mark.
Ziani had another free kick two minutes from the end but just went wide.
It was no matter, however, as Mali were a spent force by then, with not even the introduction after an hour of Kanoute able to rescue their hopes.
They must now beat Malawi in their last game to stand any chance of progress to the quarter-final. On Thursday's evidence, that looks a long shot.
