AFCON: RBL pair out in last 16
Amadou Haidara and Mali lose on penalties to Equatorial Guinea | Moriba and Guinea also knocked out in round of 16 by Gambia
2022 will begin with a major tournament. The Africa Cup of Nations will take place from 9th January to 6th February in Cameroon, and RBL’s own Amadou Haidara of Mali and Ilaix Moriba of Guinea are taking part.
Guinea’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign came to an end in the round of 16 after they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Gambia. Ilaix Moriba, who was awarded the Young Player of the Group Stage, played all 90 minutes for his country but was unable to prevent his side losing.
Amadou Haidara and Mali were also knocked out in the round of 16. Mali headed into their game against Equatorial Guinea as clear favourites, but headed to a penalty shoot out after a 0-0 draw. Despite going ahead in the shootout, Haidara’s Mali were ultimately defeated 6-5. Our midfielder was subbed of shortly ahead of the shootout and had to watch on from the subs bench.
Therefore, there are now no more Red Bulls participating in the tournament.
Matches involving our players
ROUND OF 16
- 24th January 17:00 CET:
Guinea 0-1 Gambia
- 26th January, 20:00 CET:
Mali 0-0 Equatorial Guinea (5-6 on pens)
GROUP B: ILAIX MORIBA (GUINEA)
- 10th January, 17:00 CET:
Guinea 1-0 Malawi
- 14th January, 14:00 CET:
Senegal 0-0 Guinea
- 18th January, 17:00 CET:
Zimbabwe 2-1 Guinea
GROUP F: AMADOU HAIDARA (MALI)
- 12th January, 14:00 CET:
Tunisia 0-1 Mali
- 16th January, 14:00 CET:
Gambia 1-1 Mali
- 20th January, 20:00 CET:
Mali 2-0 Mauritania
Fixture list
There are no encounters in the game plan
The 2022 Africa Cup of Nations was Ilaix Moriba’s first major tournament. The 18-year-old, who moved to Leipzig from Barcelona last summer, played for Spain’s youth teams earlier in his career. Moriba made his debut for Guinea at the tournament, the country he was born in. “This tournament could provide Ilaix with some valuable minutes that are always important for young players,” said our technical director Christopher Vivell.
Amadou Haidara, on the other hand, is an established member of the Mali side. This will be the 23-year-old’s second Africa Cup of Nations. Haidara, who featured 18 times in all competitions before the winter break for RBL, reached the semi-finals in 2019 with Mali, narrowly losing 1-0 to Ivory Coast.
Tournament format:
The format of the tournament is similar to that of the European Championship that took place last summer. 24 teams in six groups of four will take part, with all group winners and runners-up making the round of 16, plus the four best third-placed teams.
If one of the Leipzig players were to reach the final with their countries, they would definitely miss matchdays 18 to 21 in the Bundesliga, and our matchday 22 game against Köln would probably come too soon considering it’s scheduled for two days after the final.