Henri Camara is facing the prospect of early elimination from the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations even if Senegal beat South Africa in their final group game on Thursday.
A 3-1 defeat by Angola this evening, in which striker Camara played the last 20 minutes as substitute, has left Senegalese hopes in Group D hanging by a thread. Senegal had drawn 2-2 against Tunisia in their opening fixture. Only the top two nations from each of the four groups at the 16-team finals in Ghana will progress to the quarter-finals.
In the night's second Group D game, South Africa lost 3-1 against Tunisia, meaning both beaten teams have just a point - compared to the four apiece for the two victorious sides. Consequently, a draw between Tunisia and Angola on Thursday would render the result between Senegal and South Africa academic - and mean Camara's third finals' campaign was over at the earliest opportunity.
While Camara may be heading back to London before the end of the week, John Pantsil could find himself in the last eight if all goes to plan for the host nation on Monday. Ghana, with two wins from two matches, will qualify unless they lose to Morocco and are beaten by more than one goal or they fail to score at least twice, and Guinea beat Namibia. If Ghana do go through, Pantsil will be involved in a quarter-final next Sunday. The semi-finals are on Thursday 7 February with the final three days later.