The East African nation secured a 1-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea at Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca to blow Group E wide open on Sunday. The winning goal came in the 74th minute after the first half had produced a goalless scoreline.
A free-kick from Sudan found defender Saul Coco, who, in a desperate effort to clear the danger, directed it into his own net. Both teams came into the Group E fixture searching for their first points after suffering defeats on matchday one.
The matchday two fixture was the first meeting between the two nations at the AFCON finals. Sudan threatened the first side when Joha Otenyal rifled home a left-footed strike that was punched away by Jesus Owono.
A minute after coming on from the bench in the second half, veteran forward Emilio Nsue almost pulled Equatorial Guinea level, but his right-footed effort went inches wide off the right post.
With five minutes left to the clock, Nsue, who plays for Segunda Federacion club Intercity, was seen urging Equatorial Guinea not to give up and up their game, but Sudan remained tight at the back to see off the game and remain third with three points.
Sudan competing to win AFCON
“Like I said before the game, Equatorial Guinea has got a lot of experienced players, and going by their performance you could see it is a team that knows itself very well, but from us you could see it was a team, looking to win the game, I don’t want to talk about Sudan, because we have put politics ahead of the game,” said Appiah after the game.
“At the end of the day we have a fighting spirit to make sure any time we get into the game, we try to play our best to the end of it.”
Asked to explain Sudan’s target at the AFCON, he said: “As I keep saying, it is not an easy task, but once you take part in a competition, the ambition is not to be part of the competition, or come out of at the group stages.
“The ambition is how can I play well to make sure I win this competition. As at now, we did not start well, but the most important thing is to make sure we win our games, to make sure we win the AFCON. That is our aim.
“We achieved what mattered most, and we are mindful of these objectives of reaching the furthest stage possible. We are not here to just participate.”
Appiah concluded: “Our mission is not to win one game, but to go all the way and lift the AFCON.”
Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea coach Juan Micha conceded defeat by saying: “We played to win against Sudan, and it was a difficult match. We created chances to score but did not take them.
“In the end, we accept what happened and congratulate the Sudanese team, who played well and won. I do not rely on the fans to decide our line-up; I choose it according to my own options.”
Micha concluded: “Our team played better than the opponent in the first half. In the second half, we attacked, and sometimes you create chances but do not score, then you concede. That is what happened, and it is normal.”
Sudan will wind up their fixture against Burkina Faso at Stade V Mohamed on Wednesday, December 31st.
Check out the full report from Sudan's win with Flashscore.
