Ghana’s talisman, Andrea Ayew sent the house on fire when he scored in the 109 minute of the extra time to bring the Black Stars back to live and secured the hard fought 2-1 victory.

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Two penalties from Wayne Rooney brought Manchester United back from the dead to draw 3-3 with Chelsea in a thriller at Stamford Bridge.

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Mali send co-hosts Gabon packing out of the competition after beating them 5-4 on penalties in their quarter final clash on Sunday in Libreville.

The Malians came from behind to hold the Eagles to a 1-1 draw of the tie that failed to produce a winner after 120 minutes. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the star of the Gabonese team turned villain as he failed to score from the spot whilst veteran Seydou Keita netted the decisive kick as the Eagles soared into the last four of the tournament.

The Panthers were cruising to victory after Eric Mouloungui shot them into the lead on 55 minutes only for substitute Cheick Tidiane Diabate to draw level six minutes from time. It marked the first time since 2004 that Mali had reached the medal zone where they are due to face Cote d’Ivoire next Wednesday at the same venue.

Finally, boys have been seperated from the men as the African Nations Cup enters the crucila knock out round. On Sunday night, Gabon joined fellow co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in bidding farewell to the competition but it was a painful scene for the former who were five minutes away from playing at the last four of the tournament.

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Zambia coach Herve Renard has declared they are ready for any opponent after sealing their place at the semis of the 2012 Orange Africa Cup of Nations.

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Ghana Black Star, Sule Mutari says the quarter-finals pairing have proven that African football has come of age adding that it would be a very interesting two days of great soccer.

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Deposed Egyptian Football Association President Samir Zaher will contest the Prime Minister’s decision to dissolve the organisation.

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Flamengo president Patricia Amorim has confirmed that coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo has been sacked.

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Guinea midfielder, Ibrahima Traore has attributed their inability to qualify for the Quarter-finals of the African Nations Cup to their 1-0 loss to Mali in their opening match.

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Ghana talisman, Andrea Ayew ’s brushed aside fears of an injury which saw him leave the field walking gingerly when he was substituted.

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FIFA president Sepp Blatter was shocked by the riots after the Egyptian Premier League match between Al-Masry and Al-Ahly.

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With the qualification of Ghana as group D winners and Mali finishing runners up after a dramatic 2-1 defeat of last Botswana, the eight teams for the 2012 African Nations Cup quarter-finals holding on Saturday and Sunday have emerged.

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Struggling UAE outfit Sharjah have signed Korea-based duo Timur Kapadze and Lee Sang-Ho.

Uzbekistan international Kapadze, 30, joins from Incheon United while Lee, 24, arrives on loan from Suwon Bluewings for the rest of the season.

Sharjah are second last in UAE’s Pro-League following a dismal start to the season.

<--more-->The Emirati outfit recently hired ex-Asian Cup winning boss Jorvan Vieira as their new coach as they fight to avoid relegation.

Kapadze, who will wear the number seven shirt, has 85 caps for his country, while Lee has only been capped once for Korea but played a big part in Suwon’s run to the AFC Champions League semi-finals last term.

Everton have signed Tottenham midfielder Steven Pienaar on loan till the end of the season.

<--more-->The South African international left Everton last year to join Spurs in a two million pounds deal but has struggled to break into the first team at White Hart Lane.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy were discussing the deal for most of the day and negotiations advanced following the completion of Tuesday’s Premier League games.

Pienaar has made just seven appearances for Harry Redknapp’s side this season, scoring once in the Europa League win against Shamrock Rovers.

Before his move last year the 29-year-old had become a fans’ favourite at Goodison Park after joining on loan from Borussia Dortmund in 2007 and then making his move permanent in 2008.

He played 130 times scoring 13 goals and will now look to add to his reputation among the Toffees fans in his second spell at the club.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have signed striker Patrick Bamford from Nottingham Forest for a fee which could rise to one million pounds.

Bamford, 18, has penned a long-term contract at Stamford Bridge despite having made just two first-team appearances for Forest and will join the Blues’ reserve squad.

Nottingham Forest released a statement revealing the details of the move.

A statement on the club’s official website said: “Bamford’s current Forest contract was due to expire this summer and despite being offered the most lucrative contract ever tabled by the Reds for a player of his age, his representatives had indicated he would not re-sign with the club.”

“He travelled south for talks earlier today after Forest agreed a fee with Chelsea, before completing the formalities of his switch to Stamford Bridge. The fee Forest have negotiated with Chelsea includes a sell-on clause.”

Bamford caught the eye of the Chelsea scouts when scoring a hat-trick against the Blues in a youth-team friendly.

He impressed further when netting five goals in an FA Youth Cup game against Wigan and a week later scored four against Southampton.

Kevin Kpakor son of the former Nigeria international Moses Kpakor, has begun tests with Russian Football Championship club, FC Baltika Kaliningrad, reports the club’s official website.

Baltika are looking to sign five to six players before the resumption of the Russian League. Previously, Kpakor tried his luck at Tavria, Ukraine but was unsuccessful.

Kpakor is an offensive player with an eye for goal, uses both feet well, and remarkably strong in the air.

Junior Kpakor said he would not let this chance slip by hence his readiness to give all, if he passes the trial, he would undergo medicals next week.

Angola became another high profile team to be eliminated from the African Cup of Nations on Monday after a 2-0 loss to already-qualified Ivory Coast thus allowing Sudan to squeeze into the quarterfinals.

<--more-->Emmanuel Eboue scored in the 32nd minute and Wilfried Bony added a second in the 64th as cup favorite Ivory Coast sealed a third straight victory and first place in Group B.

The result meant Sudan progressed in second place on goal difference after beating Burkina Faso 2-1 in the other group match. Burkina Faso was already out.

Angola had needed only a draw to guarantee progression.

Ivory Coast, which made nine changes to its starting lineup against Angola, will play co-host Equatorial Guinea in the last eight, while Sudan will play Zambia.

Black Stars of Ghana twin striker, Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew lit up day eight at the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday to push the Black Stars virtually through the door opening onto the knockout stage.

<--more-->Ayew, son of the African legend ‘Pele’ Ayew and the BBC Africa Footballer of the Year, and Gyan earned the 2010 World Cup quarter-finalists a 2-0 win over Mali to leave them heading Group D on six points.

But the group will go down to the wire as any one of their three rivals, Guinea, Mali or even pointless Botswana, could still theoretically bag a last eight place.

The final throw of the dice for the Group D inmates comes on Wednesday with Ghana requiring just a draw from their encounter with Guinea in Franceville, with Mali heading off to the Gabonese capital Libreville to face Botswana.

Gyan, who faced a race against injury to be fit, got Ghana off the mark in the 63rd minute when he curled a free-kick past goalkeeper Soumbeyla Diakite.

Then he was instrumental in the second when his back-heel in the 76th minute set up Ayew who skilfully wrongfooted the Mali defence to unleash an unstoppable pile driver past Soumaila Diakite in the Mali goal.

“We had a few difficulties in the first half, but the boys showed strong character and we changed tactics and put pressure on them to make mistakes in the second half,” said Gyan.

The UAE-attached striker added: “This was a very important victory and we hope to continue to make Ghana proud.”

Mali skipper Cedric Kante said they have not given up hope of reaching the quarter-finals.

“We still have our destiny in our hands as it is now down to our last game against Botswana,” said the Greece-based centre half.

“We did not fight, we were not daring and we did not ask questions of the other team.”

Ghana’s win followed a record equalling performance by Guinea, who routed Botswana 6-1 in the first leg of the Group D double bill in Franceville.

Freescoring Guinea matched the record victory margin for a Nations Cup game and they are only the third team after Egypt in 1963 and Ivory Coast in 1970 to have scored six goals in a tournament match.

Goals from Sadio Diallo, who got a double, Abdoul Camara, Ibrahima Traore, Mamadou Bah and Naby Soumah earned Guinea the lopsided win against a side that had been reduced to 10-men when Patrick Motsepe was red carded in first half stoppage time.

Guinea defender Bobo Balde said: “We won 6-1 but football is never easy. No matter how many you goals score, you only get three points.”

Guinea coach Michel Dussuyer said it was crucial they won so as to get their campaign back on course.

“We needed to win because we don?t want to go back home. We were not lucky against Mali, but we were very satisfied we scored many goals in this game,” said the Frenchman.

“Botswana showed in their qualifiers they are a good team and so to score six goals against them was very satisfying for my team.”

Botswana coach Stanley Tshosane commented: “We must accept that Guinea were the better team, even though, three or four of the goals we let in were our own mistakes.

“We are sorry to our fans because we expected what our country expected.

“The better team won, we have been taught a football lesson and we have learnt.”

Monday’s programme moves across the border to Equatorial Guinea where the already qualified Cup co-hosts take on Zambia in Malabo and Libya face down and out Senegal in Bata.

Morocco suffered last minutes onslaught by rampaging Co-hosts Gabon strikers led by Cousin and saw their 2-1 lead barely eight minutes to end of game cancelled as a 98th-minute winner book ed a quarter-final place in Libreville on Friday.

<--more-->The free-kick from Bruno Zita Mbanangoye enabled Gabon to qualify from Group C with Tunisia. They meet in Franceville on Tuesday to decide top spot.

Houssine Kharja’s composed finish had set Morocco on their way after the north Africans had dominated in the first half. A quick-fire comeback followed as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang volleyed in a sumptuous strike before Daniel Cousin looked to have sealed a quarter-final berth in the 79th minute.

Charly Moussono’s handball in the penalty area saw Kharja convert the spot-kick for his second and potentially keep the north Africans in the tournament.

But the final twist saw substitute Mbanangoye strike in a wonderful free-kick to seal the most dramatic of wins.

Favourites Morocco join Senegal in being eliminated by unfancied co-hosts, and Eric Gerets’ man look forward to a dead-rubber against Niger.

In the earlier match, another late strike, this time from Issam Jemaa, saw Tunisia grab a vital 2-1 win over Niger.

The north Africans enjoyed a dream start to their match when Youssef Msakni slipped in from the left side, dribbling past the entire defence before slotting in the first goal on four minutes.

Zouhaier Dhaouadi then had an opportunity to double the lead but his long distance effort missed the target.

Just as Tunisia were beginning to take control of the encounter, Niger scored against the run of play when Moussa Maazou used his hand to interfere with Tunisian goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi, resulting in a William Tonji Ngounou header drifting into the net.

The equaliser clearly unsettled the Tunisian players who struggled to get back into the match while Niger grew in confidence and had multiple opportunities to take the lead.

Looking for attacking solutions, Tunisia manager Sami Trabelsi replaced Amine Chermiti and Dhaouadi with Jemaa and Oussama Darragi to start the final 45 minutes.

Despite the changes the threats were mainly coming from a familiar source in the shape of Msakni.

On 63 minutes, Aymen Abdennour broke forward from central defence and rolled a left-footed shot onto Niger custodian Daouda Kassaly’s post.

With the game edging towards a stalemate, Tunisian all-time leading scorer Jemaa was on hand to score the winner on 90 minutes.

Cote d’Ivoire became the second team to berth in the Quarter-finals of the African Nations Cup after beating Burkina Faso 2-0 to earn six points from two matches in a pulsating second group game Thursday night.

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UEFA has announced that Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri has been handed a two-match touchline suspension for the Champions League.

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Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas has admitted to insulting the referee in the wake of his side’s Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Barcelona.

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