Sudan ended their African Nations Championship campaign with bronze following a penalty victory over Libya in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
The Falcons of Jediane had to rely on the shootout to edge the Mediterranean Knights, having settled for a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
Walaa Eldin Musa and substitute Salem Ablo cancelled out each other in normal time, but it wasn’t all smiles for Ablo, who, together with Elmehdi Elhouni, missed his kick in the shootout to dash their chances of going home with a medal.
The Falcons then took the lead in the eighth minute when Walaa Eldin directed a free-header into the net after Atahir El Tahir drove the ball into the box.
The strike seemingly woke Libya from their sleep as they responded quickly with a series of goal attempts.
Elmutasem Abushnaf successively headed wide after connecting with crosses, before Moftah Taktak’s rebound similarly failed to find target after goalkeeper Akram Elhadi pushed away Muhanad Mustafa’s shot from outside the box.
Zakaria Alharash was the next to try his luck, but his long range effort went wide, after which Ahmed Eltrbi headed Taktak’s free-kick over the bar on the stroke of half-time.
Tenacious Ablo made one more attempt at goal, and this time, he would not be denied. The Al Ahly Tripoli attacker headed into the net to restore parity six minutes to full-time after miscalculating Akram failed to handle Ali Maetouq’s cross.
In the shootout, Ablo and Elhouni were both denied by Akram as Sudan emerged 4-2 winners.
