E.W.O.S. #11: Round of 16, Part 1
Divisions 5, 4, and 3 begin knockouts.
Okay, enough group permutations, enough second chances, and enough draws. It’s time to win or go home, in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Malaysia, Thailand, and India.
For the Round of 16 and the Quarterfinals, we’ll stick to the theme of 4 featured matches in a post, with at least 1 per division. We’ll then just list results and post the schedule for the next round.
Division 5:
Featured Match: Botswana vs. Chad
Francistown Stadium was a packed 27,000 to support the home side. Tumisang Orebonye rewarded the home fans with a magnificent strike into the top corner in the 28th minute. Botswana maintained the bulk of the possession throughout the match, and kept Chad from making any reasonable attacks. The match would end with a 1-0 victory, sending Botswana triumphantly returning to the capital for a quarterfinal.
Match Results:
Zimbabwe 3-1 Somalia
Sierra Leone 3-0 Myanmar
Comoros 2-0 Bangladesh
The Gambia 2-0 Pakistan
Botswana 1-0 Chad
Madagascar 1-0 Eritrea
Rwanda 5-0 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Sudan 4-1 Burundi
Quarterfinals: Zimbabwe vs. Sierra Leone, Comoros vs. The Gambia, Botswana vs. Madagascar, Rwanda vs. Sudan
Some Thoughts: AFC and CONCACAF ended up completely wiped out here; all 8 quarterfinalists are African sides. Zimbabwe and Botswana will continue to play at home until the final/3rd place game1.
Division 4:
Featured Match 1: Liberia vs. Bermuda
The crowd was quite sparse at Shah Alam Stadium, a mere 18,000 for a matchup of two rather unheralded sides. Kpah Sherman opened the scoring for Liberia in the 27th minute and the first half was otherwise uneventful. The match picked up in the second half. In the 50th minute, Nakhi Wells would find the back of the net to level the match 1-1. It only took 12 minutes for Sherman to retaliate and put Liberia back on top. Willie Clemons would equalize in the 80th minute, and after 90 minutes, the match was 2-2. The extra time period began and Reggie Lambe would give Bermuda their first lead of the match in the 100th minute. The halftime whistle blew, and Liberia was looking a bit overwhelmed. But Marcus Macualey would tip one just under the crossbar in the 108th minute to make the match even at 3-3, which is where it would stand when the final whistle blew.
Liberia won the toss and would shoot the first penalty. The first 5 penalties were all converted, but Tommy Songo managed to fingertip save the penalty shot from Lejaun Simmons and give Liberia a 3-2 lead after 3 rounds. The next 3 penalties were all converted, but Bermuda would not get a chance to take their final shot, and Liberia advances to the quaterfinals on penalties.
Featured Match 2: Angola vs. Tanzania
22,000 were in attendance in Serembam for this match, with the crowd largely neutral, about even supporters on each side. It took 3 minutes for Show to try a shot from distance that sailed into the net, giving Angola the 1-0 lead early. Tanzania would control the game from there out, taking the aggressive shape and battering the Angolan line. The Angolan defense held out for most of the match, until the 86th minute when Mbwana Samatta blasted a free kick from just outside the box over the wall and into the net. The match headed to extra time with a 1-1 score after the 90. In the extra time, Angola took their turn getting aggressive, and were rewarded with a 98th minute goal from Mabululu. The Angolans would quickly find themselves on the defensive end of Tanzianian pressure once more, but the Angolans did not crack this time, and the 2-1 score would be the final after 120 minutes.
Match Results:
Malaysia 0-3 Niger
Ethiopia 5-1 Libya
Liberia 3-3 Bermuda AET, Liberia advances on penalties 5-3
Angola 2-1 Tanzania AET
Thailand 0-4 Malawi
Belize 0-1 Mauritania
Congo 3-1 Sri Lanka AET
Kenya 4-0 Philippines
Quarterfinals: Niger vs. Ethiopia, Liberia vs. Angola, Malawi vs. Mauritania, Congo vs. Kenya
Some Thoughts: Another AFC and CONCACAF wipeout, and unlike Division 5, that includes the complete demolition of both host nations. It’s another all-African party, this one in Southeast Asia.
Division 3:
Featured Match: Bahrain vs. Guinea
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium was about two-thirds full with what seemed to be mostly Bahrainian supporters in the crowd. Bahrain had most of the possession and most of the shots throughout the match, outshooting 9-5. But the ball simply refused to go in the net for Bahrain, and Mohamed Bayo would loop one in the 71st minute for Guinea, providing the only goal of the match for a 0-1 Guinea victory.
Match Results:
India 3-0 Trinidad and Tobago
Dominican Republic 5-3 Kazakhstan
Bahrain 0-1 Guinea
Azerbaijan 2-0 Kosovo
Gabon 3-0 Suriname
Burkina Faso 1-0 Faroe Islands
Nicaragua 0-2 Namibia
Jordan 3-0 Kyrgyz Republic
Quarterfinals: India vs. Dominican Republic, Guinea vs. Azerbaijan, Gabon vs. Burkina Faso, Namibia vs. Jordan
Some Thoughts: Dominican Republic and Azerbaijan are the only teams from their respective confederations to make it this far in any of the bottom three divisions2. Kazakhstan certainly tried, being the only team in Division 3 to score in a losing effort, and being the first team to find the back of the Dominican net all tournament, but just struggled to defend.
We’ll see you soon for the top two divisions!
I’m a button, not a doctor:
Final in Zimbabwe, 3rd place match in Botswana (and of course, either or both might still lose the quarterfinal)
Jordan and host India share this distinction as well, together being the only AFC sides to reach the quarterfinals in any of the lowest three divisions.