Guinea have now set their sights on going past Ghana Sunday for a place in the semi-finals of the 2015 AFCON after they proved luckier than Mali in the draw of lots.
The Syli National got the luck to advance to the last-eight after they were tied on the same statistics with Mali and a lot had to be drawn to determine the team to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament in Equatorial Guinea.
Sunday will be a rematch between West African foes Ghana and Guinea after they also clashed in the qualifiers with the Black Stars winning 3-1 at home and picking a 1-1 draw in Guinea.
Guinea skipper Kamil Zayatte said they ought to have learnt from these qualifying matches and now hope to go through against the much-fancied Ghanaians.
ââ¬ÅWe made some mistakes against Ghana during the qualifiers. It must teach us a lesson,â⬠said the Guinea star.
ââ¬ÅGhana are one of the big African teams. We played them lately and now itââ¬â¢s time to hold them. Weââ¬â¢ll try to do everything to progress.ââ¬
Mohamed Yattara, who scored against Ghana in Tamale, said he expects a very open West African derby on Sunday in Malabo.
ââ¬ÅWe are going to play against a very good Ghana side, a team who we know well but who also knows us well. I think the game will be very open. We know that we are going to face great players who are used to compete in big competitions,ââ¬Å he said.
The winners of this clash will battle the winners of the match between Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia for a place in the Championship game on February 8 in Bata.