A goal from
Serge Gakpe
powered Togo to
the quarter-
finals of the 2013
Africa Cup of Nations for the
first time, after
drawing 1-1 with
Tunisia. The Sparrow Hawks were held by the Carthage
Eagles in the final round of the
Group D fixtures on Wednesday,
but the result was enough to end
the west Africans’ Nations Cup
quarter-finals drought in their last six outings. Togo dominated the first 25
minutes of the first half and
capitalised on the high line
situation of the north Africans to
take the lead.Gakpe sneaked into the Tunisians defence after
being played through by
Emmanuel Adebayor, before
lashing the ball beyond
goalkeeper Ben Chrifia. Didier Six’s men could have made
it two thanks to the north
Africans high line once again,
however, captain Adebayor
smashed the ball wide after a
Gakpe ball from the byline. The 2004 African champions woke
up from their slumber and came
into the game that was being
dictated at the pace of Adebayor
and his men. Right on the half
hour mark, coach Sami Trabelsi’s men levelled to make it 1-1. Khaled Mouelhi equalised for the Tunisians from the spot. He
sent Kossi Agassa the wrong way
and calmly stroked the ball into
the bottom right corner of the
goal. The penalty was given when
Walid Hichri went down so easily under pressure from Dare
Nibombe. It was the Carthage Eagles who
were enjoying the better of
possession in the second half,
until the last 20 minutes when
the Togolese changed their
strategy. The Tottenham Hotspur striker almost put his side back in
front, but his header from a Floyd
Ayite's cross hit the woodwork. Tunisia’s golden moment came in
the 78th minute when an
opponent clipped the heels of a
Tunisian forcing referee Daniel
Bennett to point at the penalty
spot to the dissatisfaction of the west Africans. Within minutes he
brandished the yellow card for
three Togolese players including
Adebayor, Agassa and Ayitte for
protesting his decision. However, Khaled Mouelhi missed
ithe penalty by hitting the post.
Togo had Agassa to thank for
making a few brilliant saves in
stoppage time to give them a
quarter-finals berth against Burkina Faso, while Tunisia go
home after a disappointing Afcon
for them.