But Gabon took command in the space of two minutes, with goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and former Hull City striker Daniel Cousin. The vociferous 40 000 crowd then fell silent in the first minute of injury time when Kharja coolly stepped up to level from the penalty spot.

But Gabon never gave up, with Bruno Mbanangoyes' curling in a free-kick in the final second of the eighth minute of stoppage time to settle an unforgettable encounter.

"It was really dramatic watching this fantastic game from the touchline," said Gabon Coach, Gernot Rohr. "I must say bravo to my players. I knew this team had mental qualities to produce such a performance, I hope they can do it again because they left a lot of energy out there.

Now we go to Franceville to play Tunisia, a very big team. I worked in Tunisia, at Etoile du Sahel, I hope I will have a good time with my friends on Tuesday, January 31," he mentioned.

Rather than taking their foot off the gas after qualifying for the quarterfinals, Gabon want to finish top of their group to avoid a potential match-up against Orange AFCON favourites, Ghana.

A draw against Tunisia in their closing first-round match in Franceville on Tuesday, January 31, will ensure the co-hosts top Group C, after wins over Niger and Morocco. Their reward would be a last-eight date with the Group B runners-up back in the Gabonese capital on Sunday, February 5.

Rohr told journalists; "We want to avoid Ghana, so we would like to finish top. That would mean also playing our quarterfinal in Libreville, in this wonderful L'Amitie stadium with its fantastic crowd. If we come in as runners-up we would have to go to Equatorial Guinea if we make it into the semifinals. We will play Tunisia to win, but a draw will be sufficient as we have better goal difference than them."

These are thrilling days for a team ranked only 77th in the world and 16th in Africa. And Rohr cautioned: "We're not pretending to be Brazil, we're a very humble bunch, we have lots to improve, we have to keep our feet on the ground."

Even after qualifying for the last eight of the tournament Gabon are co-hosting with Equatorial Guinea, the Franco-German coach battles for acceptance in a country on the brink of their greatest footballing success.

However, Rohr refused on Saturday, January 28, to gloat about leading Gabon to arguably their best result - a thrilling 3-2 win over Morocco to secure progress from their first-round group

"I don't feel any vengeance against me but the people are impatient. They didn't really understand we wanted to create a young team that would work together and be united," he said. "Maybe this result has come at the right time."

Earlier on Friday, January 27, the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia secured their quarter-finals place with a 2-1 victory over a modest Mena of Niger. The Tunisians took control of the game in the first half, scoring twice; at the 4th minute thanks to Msakni and the second goal through Jemaa donning jersey number 17. The Niger offensive midfielder of Cameroonian origin, Williams Tonji Ngounou scored the face-saving goal for his side.

Two matches no wins for Niger and Morocco, their Orange AFCON 2012 journey has come to an end. The result of their last Group C match, pitting the two will not change the status-quo.

In Group D, Saturday, January 28, newcomers at an AFCON tourney, the Zebras of Botswana lost 1 – 6 to the Syli Nationale of Guinea. In the second game, the Black Stars of Ghana overpowered the Eagles of Mali 2 – 0 to put their quarter-finals option into focus. The last two matches in Group D will determine which two teams get a place at the quarters. We look forward to that come Wednesday, February 1 2012.