Saif Eldin Terry stepped off the bench to score the equalizer as Sudan earned their first Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Group I point with a 1-1 draw against Guinea at the Grand Stade in Marrakech, Morocco on Wednesday.
The Guineans had gone ahead through Mohamed Bayo. But the Sudanese, playing their home matches in Morocco fought back for a point after losing their first two matches.
The opening 45 minutes was hard fought. But the battle was reduced to the middle of the pack with both keepers not having much to do. Guinea had a chance after 17 minutes. But Aguibou Camara couldn’t get a strong boot to the ball off a volley from the edge of the box.
The Sudanese tried to fancy a shot from range in the 27th minute when Salaheldin Alhassan found acres of space ahead of him off a well worked move. But his shot was awry, going way over and wide.
The Sudanese had a freekick from good scoring range in the 31st minute after Athar El Tahir was fouled at the edge of the area. But Sharaf Abdelrahman saw his freekick saved by the keeper despite giving it a beautiful curl beyond the wall.
Guinea were increasingly being put under pressure by the hosts and Abdoulaye Cisse almost turned the ball into his own net as he tried to cut out a cross from the right. But luckily, the ball bounced over for a corner.
Sudan didn’t do much from the set-piece and were caught on the counter. And the Guineans came close but Mady Camara’s well struck shot from the edge of the box was deflected for a corner.
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In the second half, both teams stepped up the momentum. And it would be Guinea who got into the lead after 56 minutes when Bayo rose under pressure to head home a corner from the right.
However, Sudan gave a fight and they kept knocking on the door. Off a brilliant team move, the Eastern Africans were on level terms.
Abdelrahman played Terry through with a peach of a through pass slicing through the defense, the Sudanese talisman finishing off with a powerful shot from inside the box.
Motivated by the goal, Sudan fought to try get a winner. But they were thwarted by a tactically disciplined Guinean backline.