Liverpool stars meet in the final

LAST 16

African football’s propensity to shoot itself in the foot was no better illustrated than in the last16 when Comoros were denied the use of a goalkeeper in their historic tie against hosts Cameroon, turning the clash into a farce.

The debutants, looking to continue their fairy-tale run at the expense of the host nation, suffered a huge crisis before the game with two of their three goalkeepers in quarantine after positive COVID-19 tests and first-choice Salim Ben Boina out with a shoulder injury. This led to several training sessions to test which of their outfield players might be able to fill in but, on the eve of the clash in Yaounde, second-choice goalkeeper Ali Ahamada tested negative (three days after his positive test).

A cloud of confusion then reigned until just hours before kick-off, when CAF confirmed that the 30-year-old Ahamada had not fulfilled its protocols,