LEAD: Sudan snatch unlikely quarter-final place, join Ivory Coast

By Peter Auf der Heyde Jan 30, 2012, 21:36 GMT

Libreville, Gabon - Sudan grabbed an unlikely quarter-final place at the Africa Cup of Nations as they beat Burkina Faso on Monday while Angola lost to already-qualified Ivory Coast.

Sudan, who are the only team at the tournament with a squad consisting exclusively of locally based players, went into the final round of matches in group B trailing Angola by three points and two goals.

Mudathir Eltaib scored twice in a 2-1 victory against Burkina Faso, for whom Issiaka Ouedraogo scored an injury time goal, while a second-string Ivory Coast side proved too strong for the Palencas Negras, who lost the game 2-0 through goals by Emmanuel Eboue and Wilfried Bony.

Ivory Coast top the group with nine points, while Sudan finished second on four - ahead of Angola on goal difference. Burkina Faso finished without a point.

Ivory Coast will take on co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in the quarter-finals on Saturday in Malabo, while Sudan are up against Zambia on the same day in Bata.

Sudan coach Mohamed 'Mazda' Abdallah said he felt his side has been improving throughout the tournament.

'I think we deserve to be in the quarter-finals,' he said. 'We were not one of the favorites to go through, but we did. We prepared well for the tournament. We are doing well, and I think my team should be respected now.'

In the Equatorial Guinean capital of Malabo, Ivorian coach Francois Zahoui rang in the changes and brought in nine new players against Angola, who needed at least a point to be guaranteed a place in the next round.

They fell behind in the 33rd minute when goalkeeper Wilson failed to handle Bony's cross and the ball came to Eboue, who had no problems poking the ball over the line from close range.

A comical defensive error gave the Elephants a second goal in the 64th minute, after Dani Massunguna tried to head the ball back to Wilson, who had already come off his line.

The ball sailed over the goalkeeper and was heading toward the goal, but Bony gave it the final touch to claim the goal for himself.

In Bata, Sudan went in search of the three points they needed to stand any chance of going through, but suffered a setback early on as Nagm Eldin injured himself in a tackle and had to be substituted and rushed off the field for medical treatment.

They went ahead against the run of play at the same time that Ivory Coast took the lead against Angola, after Eltaib found himself in space.

The 23-year-old striker added a second 10 minutes from the end to give his side the advantage, and even though Ouedraogo pulled one back for the Burkinabe deep into injury time, it could not deny Sudan a place in the round of the last eight.

Sudan's last success at the showpiece of African football was in 1970, when they won as hosts. That was the last time they had won a game prior to Monday.

Earlier, the two co-hosts, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, as well as Tunisia and Zambia, had progressed to the knock-out stages.