Two balls inside a pot, each with the name of a team – that’s how the runners up of Group D, and the team to follow group winners Ivory Coast to the last eight of the Africa Cup of Nations, will be determined at a Malabo hotel on Thursday. Regardless of the fact that this is a procedure that is well stipulated for this kind of situation, the tacticians were adamant that drawing lots was not the sporting way.
"You have to respect the rules, we have no choice. We are going to be nervous, Guinea also. We must find a more sporting way, fairer," said Henryk Kasperczak.
"We have to solve the problems of qualification ... without a drawing of lots. This does not correspond to a sporting spirit."
Michel Dussuyer of Guinea echoed his counterpart’s sentiments: "I would be disappointed but it's hard for any team. No one deserves to be eliminated."
"Mali didn't lose a game -- they played very well in the tournament. They do not deserve to be eliminated in this way, just as we do not."
Lots were last drawn like this at the 1988 AFCON when a grateful Algeria progressed to the knockout stage at the expense of Ivory Coast.
Mali's and Guinea's coaches disappointed at CAF's rule for determining Group D runners up
Henryk Kasperczak and Michel Dussuyer, the head coaches of the Mali and Guinea national soccer teams respectively, were irked by the CAF’s rule of using lots to determine the runners up to Ivory Coast in Group D.
