CHAN 2014 Final | Saturday 01 January | Cape Town Stadium | 20:00
Four hours of football produced no goals at the Free State Stadium as Libya and Ghana sealed their place in the final of the 2014 African Nations Championship with penalty shoot-out wins.
To Win (90mins)
Libya 7/2
Draw 22/10
Ghana 8/10
LIBYA
Libya rode their luck in a goalless 120 minutes with Zimbabwe, who failed to take the better of the game’s few chances.
Goalkeeper Mohamed Abdaula scored his side’s eighth kick to earn a 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory for the north Africans.
Libya too would have hoped to done better in attack overall as they have scored six goals in five matches.
During the group stages, the Mediterranean Knights beat Ethiopia 2-0, before recording 1-1 and 2-2 draws with Ghana and Congo respectively.
A side who play an accomplished passing game, the Libyans booked their spot in the semis by beating Gabon in a penalty shoot-out after the match had ended 1-1.
GHANA
Ghana won 4-1 on spot-kicks, having overcome Kwabena Adusei’s red card in the 64th minute to hold Nigeria to a 0-0 draw after extra-time.
The Black Stars hope to have better luck than the last final, when they lost 2-0 against the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009 in Ivory Coast.
They have been conservative in their approach, managing just four goals so far in five games, however, they have been solid in defence conceding just one goal.
They are unbeaten after 1-0 wins over Ethiopia and Congo together with a 1-1 draw with Libya in the group phase, before edging out the DRC 1-0 in the last eight to book their place against Nigeria where they came out unscarred.
Betting Prediction: DRAW 22/10
These sides already met in the group stages where they drew 1-1. Both have defended well without impressing in attack. The draw is tipped with penalty shoot-outs the most likely result.
Written by Wayde Dorkin for @Hollywoodbets. Follow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!
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