Crystal Palace players enjoyed a lot of success in their most recent matches with their nations as Mile Jedinak’s Australia progressed to only their second Asian Cup Final whereas Palace’s duo at the African Cup of Nations both made it through with their respective sides to the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Mile Jedinak
Australia and Eagles captain Mile Jedinak will lead his country side out at Stadium Australia on Saturday for the final of the Asian Cup, the host nations’ second in consecutive tournaments after losing to Japan in Qatar in 2011, losing 1-0 after extra time. The Socceroos beat United Arab Emirates on Tuesday to set-up a tie with South Korea who qualified for the final after beating Iraq 2-0 in the first semi-final of the competition.
Jedinak will be looking to have an affect against South Korea, as when the two sides met in the group stages of the competition it was the Korean side that prevailed by winning the game by a goal to nil in Brisbane, a game that the skipper missed due to an ankle injury he picked up during the first game of the tournament against Kuwait.
The final between Australia and South Korea will take place on Saturday morning with Jedinak hoping to bring back international cup winning experience back to Selhrust Park on his returns.
Yannick Bolasie
Another Palace player that will feature for his national side on Saturday is Yannick Bolasie, who’s DR Congo face neighbours Congo in their quarter-final tie of the African Cup of Nations after pulling off a draw against group winners Tunisia with other results going their way to progress into this stage of the competition.
Bolasie had another fairly below average game for DR Congo despite playing a full 90 minutes, contributing to play throughout the game by creating chances for his team-mates with his main contributions being made towards the end of the game where his side tried to snatch a late win.
Surprisingly enough, DR Congo have managed to reach the quarter-finals of the competition despite managing to pick up a win throughout the group stages, drawing all three of their games.
Kwesi Appiah
A surprise call-up to Avram Grant’s Ghana squad, Kwesi Appiah wasn’t expected to feature much in the former Chelsea manager’s plans but on Tuesday, the 24-year-old came on to make an impact as his debut appearance with 21 minutes left after being left on the bench in the previous two matches.
His appearance turned out vital as after coming onto the pitch, the Ghana squad bounced into life, with a goal being scored three minutes after the substitution of which was scored by John Boye who equalised the score with this goal. Minutes later, Appiah himself attempted to get his name on the scoresheet as the striker saw a shot turned onto the post by the South African goalkeeper.
Minutes later, Ghana found the winner as after an exhaustive amount of pressure from Grants’ side Andre Ayew netted a diving header to put his team into the quarter-finals with a fine goal awarding his side a 2-1 win. Ghana will play the runners up of Group D, a team who’s identity will be revealed tomorrow with their being deadlock between two sides – meaning a lots will have to take place (two balls in a pot, one is pulled out and progresses).
