1 / 2
Who would have thought that Ivory Coast would still be alive in this African Cup of Nations after the first round? 3 points only, two defeats and a third rank after the group phase, without speaking about the headaches triggered off by that incredible defeat 0-4 before Equatorial Guinea for the sake of the last game of the first round. Nobody was ever expecting an 1/8 final at this point, and the fans and the media were already thinking of the reasons for the failure. French coach Jean-Louis Gasset was resigning, and chaos was prevailing in the host country of the Elephants.
And yet, Ivory Coast is now in semifinals after the (again) unbelievable victory in quarter finals against Mali (2-1 after extra time) last evening: the scenario? An early red card compelling Bayer Leverkusen and Ivorian defender Odilon Kossounou to leave his teammates at 10 in the first half, a penalty kick stopped by Ivorian goalkeeper Yahia Fofana and a wonderful goal scored by Malian youngster Nene Dorgeles (0-1, 71’) for what seemed the end of the Elephants in this tournament. Twenty minutes left to play with a numerical inferiority to overcome and a goal to score: the mission looked maybe not impossible, but at least quite complicated.
Complicated and impossible are two different words: in the last minutes of the game, Simon Adingra put both teams on equal standards (1-1, 90’) and gave the fans another opportunity to get a heart attack with thirty minutes more to play for the extra time. The final relief came from Ivorian striker Oumar Diakité who deflected a shot from Seko Fofana in the ultimate seconds for the 2-1 (123’), driving people crazy in Bouaké and in front of TV screens all over the country. Overwhelmed by his emotions, the young forward removed his jersey and got a second yellow card: no semifinals for him…
Abidjan can party, but the journey is still pending: DR Congo stands in the way of the semifinals planned next week. In the meantime, South Africa will challenge Nigeria.