Grant’s Ghana into Cup of Nations quarter-finals

Avram Grant’s Ghana side became the second team to book their place in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations following a 1-0 win over Mali on Saturday.

Asamoah Gyan’s first half header secured the win, which following their 1-0 win over Uganda on Tuesday sees them assured of a top-two finish in their group.

Praising his side for a ‘mature’ performance, Grant said: “I’m happy for the win and I thank my boys for showing maturity especially in the second half. In the first half we played good football, in the second half we played in my opinion mature football.

“We didn’t plan to sit back in the second half. In tournaments like this you need to collect points and that’s what we did. In the first half we scored and missed many chances, but we had to secure our victory in the second half. Mali played a physical game but I used my normal tactic and we won. We have six points and we played a good game.”

They next play Egypt in their final group game on Wednesday evening, where a win or draw will see them finish top of the group.