Background

The African Nations Championship (CHAN) is a biennial tournament created by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2007, with the inaugural tournament taking place in early 2009. ^{[1] [2]} The tournament is similar to the Africa Cup of Nations, the major difference being that the teams in a CHAN tournament may only use players who are based in their home country's domestic league. Those who play club football elsewhere in Africa or the world are not eligible. ^[1] The 2016 CHAN was the fourth edition of the tournament, and was held in Rwanda for three weeks from 16 January 2016. ^{[3] [4]}

It is open to all 48 clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system and, starting with the 2016–17 season, 16 Category One academy teams, representing clubs from the Premier League and Championship. The tournament originally used a straight knockout format, but was modified in 2016–17 to incorporate an initial group stage, ^[5] in which a team is awarded three points for a win and zero for a defeat. ^[6] In the event of a draw, a penalty shoot-out is held at the end of the game with the winner of the shoot-out receiving two points and the loser one. ^[6] In the 2016–17 season it was referred to by its sponsorship name, the Checkatrade Trophy. ^[7] The 2016–17 tournament was the 34th edition of the competition. ^[8]

Coventry City and Oxford United both appeared in the competition as a result of their membership of League One for the 2016–17 season. Coventry were making their first appearance in a League Trophy final while for Oxford it was their second, following a 3–2 defeat to Barnsley in the previous season's match. ^[9] Both teams had won a major Wembley cup final during the 1980s – Oxford beat Queens Park Rangers in the 1986 Football League Cup Final, and Coventry won the following season's FA Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspur. ^[10] The two sides had won one game each of the head-to-head league meetings that season. At Coventry's Ricoh Arena, in October 2016, Coventry won 2–1 with goals from Ben Stevenson and Marvin Sordell and a late consolation for Oxford by Dan Crowley. ^[11] The return fixture at the Kassam Stadium a month later was won by Oxford with Kane Hemmings, Jamie Sterry, Chris Maguire and Alex MacDonald all scoring as the match finished 4–1. ^[12]

Route to the final

DR Congo

Group stage and knockouts		Result
1	Ethiopia	3–0
2	Angola	4–2
3	Cameroon	1–3
QF	Rwanda	2–1 ( a.e.t.)
SF	Guinea	1–1 ( a.e.t.) (5–4 p)

Group B table ^[13]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Cameroon	3	7
2	DR Congo	3	6
3	Angola	3	3
4	Ethiopia	3	1

DR Congo's campaign commenced in the group stage, competing in Group B along with Angola, Cameroon, and Ethiopia. ^[14] In their first match, played on 17 January 2016, they faced Ethiopia at Stade Huye in the southern city of Butare. DR Congo opened the scoring shortly before half time, as Guy Lusadisu scored with a header from a Héritier Luvumbu cross. Luvumbu himself doubled the lead with a header two minutes into the second half, and was involved in the third goal too as he provided the cross for Meschak Elia to tap the ball into the goal on 57 minutes and complete a comfortable 3–0 win. ^[15] DR Congo were similarly dominant in their second group game on 21 January, which was also played at Stade Huye. Goals from Nelson Munganga, Meschak and Jonathan Bolingi gave them a 3–0 lead at the half time. Gelson Dala pulled a goal back for Angola on 75 minutes, but Merveille Bokadi restored the three-goal cushion seven minutes later. Yano scored again for Angola shortly afterwards, but DR Congo held on for a 4–2 win. ^[16]

With qualification for the next round guaranteed, manager Florent Ibengé made nine changes to his team for the final group game, which was played on 25 January, once more in Butare. ^[17] Opponents Cameroon, who required one point to secure their own progression, ^[16] had the best chances to score in the first half and led 1–0 at the interval through a Yazid Atouba goal. ^[18] DR Congo improved after half time and they equalised on 47 minutes through Jean-Marc Mundele. Cameroon emerged the victors, however, as goals from Moumi Ngamaleu on 52 minutes and Samuel Nlend on 64 minutes sealed a 3–1 win. The defeat consigned DR Congo to second place in the group behind Cameroon. ^[17]

In the quarter-final, DR Congo faced hosts Rwanda in a game at the Amahoro national stadium in Kigali on 30 January. ^[19] The two neighbours had a history of often tense political relations, ^[20] and Rwandan newspaper The New Times described the fixture as "a match that both sets of fans dreaded, especially at this stage". ^[18] Their previous competitive meeting was in the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations, which was won by Rwanda. ^[19] In front of a capacity crowd, Doxa Gikanji gave DR Congo the lead after 10 minutes with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, ^[21] a goal described by BBC Sport as "spectacular". ^[22] but Rwanda equalised in the second half through Ernest Sugira. The game went to extra time and appeared to be destined for a penalty shoot-out until Botuli Bompunga headed in the winner seven minutes before the end. ^{[21] [23]}

DR Congo's semi-final match took place on 3 February 2016 at Amahoro Stadium, against Guinea. DR Congo settled had the better chances in the first half but the match remained goalless, and they suffered a set-back a Bompunga booking led to his suspension from the final. ^[24] There were no goals in the second half either, but both teams had chances. Bolingi went close to scoring twice for DR Congo and Gijanji's powerful shot close to the end hit the crossbar, ^[24] while Ibrahima Sory Sankhon went close to scoring at the other end. DR Congo finally broke the deadlock in the first period of extra time, Bolingi scoring with a diving header from a Lusadisu cross. But Sankhon found an equaliser with only seconds remaining in the game to make the score 1–1, and the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. ^[22] The score in the shoot-out was 3–3 after five penalties each, both sides failing to score two of their kicks. ^[24] The next three penalties, in the sudden-death phase, were all scored but then DR Congo goalkeeper Ley Matampi saved from Guinea's Mohamed Youla to earn his team a place in the final. ^[22]

Mali

Group stage and knockouts		Result
1	Uganda	2–2
2	Zimbabwe	1–0
3	Zambia	0–0
QF	Tunisia	2–1
SF	Ivory Coast	1–0

Group D table ^[25]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Zambia	3	7
2	Mali	3	5
3	Uganda	3	2
4	Zimbabwe	3	1

Mali were drawn in Group D of the competition, with Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. ^[26] They played Uganda in their opening fixture, which took place at the Umuganda Stadium in Gisenyi. ^[27] Uganda took the lead on 11 minutes through Joseph Ochaya, with Sékou Koïta equalising for Mali 12 minutes later. Uganda captain Farouk Miya restored his team's lead before half-time through a penalty, but they then suffered a pair of injuries and Mali equalised again in the second half through Hamidou Sinayoko giving a final score of 2–2. ^[26] Their second game, in Gisenyi again, was against Zimbabwe, the team who had eliminated them from the 2014 championships. Both sides had chances in the game but the only goal was scored close to the end by Moussa Sissoko for Mali, sealing a 1–0 win. ^[28] The result left Mali needing just a draw from their final game against already-qualified Zambia. ^[29] This final match, at Kigali's Nyamirambo Regional Stadium on 27 January, finished 0–0 with few clear chances for either side. Mali thus qualified as runners-up, with Zambia topping the group. ^[30]

Mali played their quarter-final game on 31 January 2016 against Tunisia at Nyamirambo Regional Stadium. ^[31] The North Africans led 1–0 at half time after Mohamed Ali Moncer's headed goal on 14 minutes, following a cross by Saad Bguir. ^[32] Mali were the better team at the start of the second half, and they equalised on 69 minutes when Aliou Dieng scored a penalty following a handball by Zied Boughattas. Abdoulaye Diarra then put Mali in front on 80 minutes, with a right-foot shot following a run down the left of the pitch. Mali withstood some late pressure to secure a 2–1 victory. ^[33] In winning the game and progressing to the semi-final, Mali achieved their best performance in the tournament, eclipsing their run to the quarter-finals in 2014. ^[34]

Mali's semi-final was also at Nyamirambo Regional Stadium, on 4 February, where they faced Ivory Coast. ^[34] The Ivorians had the best chances in the first 20 minutes, ^[35] including a shot from Essis Aka which hit the post. ^[36] But Mali began to dominate after that, and they won a penalty on 32 minutes when Ivory Coast's Cheick Comara handballed in the penalty area. ^[35] Mamadou Coulibaly took the kick, but it was saved by Ivorian goalkeeper Ali Badra Sangare. ^[36] Mali were dominant throughout the second half with numerous shots on goal, ^[35] the best being a close-range shot directly in front of the goal, which was missed by Rominigue Kouamé. The match was heading for extra time, until Yves Bissoouma scored the winner in the 88th minute, from a Hamidou Sinayoko header. ^[36]

Match

Summary

The match kicked off under floodlights at around 6:30pm local time, in rainy conditions with temperatures of 28°C. ^{[37] [38] [39]} Dieng had an early long-range shot on goal for Mali which went wide, but Congo had the first genuine chance on 5 minutes when Zacharie Mombo's cross found Elia, his header going just over the crossbar.

Notes

References

• DR Congo vs Mali (Final) – Orange African Nations Championship, Rwanda 2016. Confederation of African Football. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2021 – via YouTube.