South Sudan has been crowned the African Nations Cup Champions for 2013. The two-day tournament was held at Burton Park over the weekend of 19-20 October and was a joint initiative of the Football Federation SA, African Communities Council, Office of Recreation and Sport, and City of Salisbury.  

A total of ten teams participated in the event from across the African Communities. The teams to be represented were Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

The ten teams were placed into three groups, with South Sudan and Sudan progressing from Group A and Burundi and Sierra Leone progressing from Group B and C into the semi-finals. The semi-finals were contrasting affairs with South Sudan narrowly scaping past Sierra Leone by a single goal while Burundi convincingly defeated Sudan in the second semi-final, five goals to nil.

The Grand Final provided the Burundi team with the opportunity to make amends for their defeat in the 2012 Grand Final. From the outset of the game South Sudan looked the more threatening and by the half-time break South Sudan comfortably led by two goals to nil. 

The second half was hotly contested and with 10 minutes to go, the game really came to life when Burundi was awarded a penalty. After converting the first attempt, the penalty was required to be retaken, and although the second attempt was saved, the follow up was converted. With the score 2-1, Burundi started to pile on the pressure and with virtually the last kick of the game, South Sudan’s goalkeeper pulled off a world class save to deny Burundi the opportunity to equalise. 

The final whistle saw jubilant celebrations from the South Sudan players and supporters. The weekend event highlighted the importance of football to the African communities. 

“Football is often referred to as the world game as it is the only sport that is played in every nation on earth. FFSA recognises that football is an important and powerful tool that unites people regardless of their nationality and helps to build a sense of pride, of community and of belonging. The African Nations Cup has epitomised all of these qualities.”  FFSA CEO Michael Carter said.

In the 3rd and 4th Play-off match, Sudan defeated Sierra Leone 6-1 to claim third place.

Full Details:

Results

            Pitch 1                                                                       Pitch 2 

Sudan 1 v Tanzania 0                                                       South Sudan 9 v Nigeria 0                                                              

Somalia 0 v Burundi         9                                              Sierra Leone 3 v Zambia 1                                            

Sudan 0 v South Sudan 1                                               Tanzania 4 v Nigeria        1               

Burundi 3 v Ethiopia        3                                              Sierra Leone 4 v Ghana 0                                                               

Sudan 9 v Nigeria 0                                                          Tanzania 1 v South Sudan 2                         

Somalia 2 v Ethiopia 5                                     Zambia 6 v Ghana 1

 

Table

                                                                                                                                   

TEAM – Group A	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS
South Sudan	3	3	-	-	12	1	9
Sudan	3	2	-	1	10	1	6
Tanzania	3	1	-	2	5	3	3
Nigeria	3	-	-	3	1	22	0
TEAM – Group B	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS
Burundi	2	1	1	-	12	3	4
Ethiopia	2	1	1	-	8	5	4
Somalia	1	-	-	1	0	9	0
TEAM – Group C	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS
Sierra Leone	2	2	-	0	4	1	6
Zambia	2	1	-	1	7	4	3
Ghana	2	-	-	2	2	10	0

 

Semi Final 1 

South Sudan 1 v Sierra Leone 0 

                                 

Semi Final 2 

Sudan 0 v Burundi 5 

 

Grand Final

South Sudan 2 v Burundi 1 

 

3rd and 4th Playoff 

Sudan 5 v Sierra Leone 1