Gabon/Morocco: Home Crowd Fires Furious Finish for Underdogs

28 January 2012
allAfrica.com
By Mark Gleeson

Libreville — Gabon credited the crowd for their amazing turnaround on Friday night as they catapulted themselves into the African Nations Cup quarter-finals in dramatic style.

Coach Gernot Rohr said the impact of the support changed the game, taking Gabon from a losing situation to a thrilling 3-2 win that books them a berth in the last eight.

"When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored we felt we were really back in the game and the atmosphere in the stadium gave new energy to my players," said Gabon's Franco-German coach of the 77^th minute equaliser that sparked a furious finish in the Group C match in Libreville.

"After we went 2-1 ahead everyone believed that we had won this match only for us to give away a penalty. But the dramatic finale was wonderful for everybody."

Rohr said Gabon now would seek to finish top of the group in their final game against Tunisia, where a draw would be enough for them to place at the head of the group standings.

"We would like to finish first in the group because that would mean we would play in Libreville, in a wonderful stadium, in the quarter-finals. It also means we'll stay in Gabon if we go further in the competition."

"We have a competitive team. It is not always easy to come back and for them to find the resources to impose themselves in the final minutes shows that mentally they are very strong. We are not pretending to be Brazil, we are humble but we overcame Morocco with some brilliance."

Morocco felt they had control of the match after captain Houcine Kharja had netted in the 24^th minute to ensure a half-time lead.

"Tactically we lost it in the last 20 minutes. The team did not seem capable of doing what we had done so many times in the past," bemoaned coach Eric Gerets, whose future is now in doubt after the shock early elimination for one of the tournament favourites.

"We should have scored another goal but unfortunately it turned into a battle in the second half. We were just not capable of imposing our own game."

After losing to both Tunisia and Gabon, Morocco will conclude their Nations Cup with a meaningless match against Niger on Tuesday.

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