Guinea and Mali lost the chance to dictate who passes on to the quarter-finals as a 1-1 draw meant both teams were even on all fronts in Group D group at the on-going African Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
Guinea went into the lead from the spot through Kevin Constant. Mali however missed the opportunity to immediately level with a feeble penalty kicked by Captain, Seydou Keita saved. Nevertheless, the Guineans could not hold on to the lead as a Modibo Maiga's header from Abdoulay Diaby's cross in the second-half left Mali and Guinea all square.
Drawing lots is a last resort for CAF as both teams still stood equal on head-to-head and then goal difference. - a Siamese twin scenario!
The drawing of the lots will take place in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) hotel in Malabo at 15:00 GMT. There will be two balls with each carrying the name of either Mali or Guinea. One of the balls will be picked by an official and the name in the chosen ball will be revealed- the name that is in there progresses as runner up in Group B. The selected team will face Ghana in the quarter finals.
Walking down the hall of history, this is not the first time lots decide which team moves on to a higher stage in a FIFA sanctioned competition. At the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the Netherlands and Ireland were tied for second place in their group. Straight after the match, Sepp Blatter, then second-in-command at Fifa, conducted a drawing of lots ceremony live on TV in Rome. But to a more related one, Africa has seen drawing of lots in its history before with Algeria benefiting in the expense of Ivory Coast in 1988.
Meanwhile, Ivory Coast finished top of Group D after beating Cameroon 1-0 the only win for any team in the group.
The question still lingers, is lot drawing the best method to determine who qualifies after a tie in group matches? Your guess might be as good as mine.
Source: DSG
