– Ivory Coast has come a long way to win “its” CAN
Ivory Coast, after coming close to elimination in the group stage, won the third African Cup in its history by beating Nigeria 2-1 in the final on Sunday.
Published: 02/11/2024, 11:05 p.m. Updated 11 hours ago
Côte d’Ivoire was trailing, but they were able to turn the game around.
AFP
Moribund in the first round, Côte d’Ivoire went to the end of its incredible trajectory to win its third African Cup by dominating Nigeria (2-1) in the final, in a trance-filled Abidjan stadium, Sunday .
This time it’s not a miracle. The Elephants deserved their victory, thanks to goals from Franck Kessié (62) and Sébastien Haller (81), with a pachydermic header for the first, by subtly cutting the trajectory of the ball at the near post for the second. Both crosses came from Simon Adingra.
There remained in this team something of the “resurrected”: this way of resisting headwinds, since Nigeria had opened the score against the run of play with a header from captain William Troost-Ekong (32), on one of the Super Eagles’ rare first-half incursions into the opposing camp.
A chaotic journey
Almost eliminated after the slap against Equatorial Guinea (4-0), last drafted in the first round, passed on penalties against Senegal (1-1, 5 tab to 4) then ten against eleven against Mali (2 -1 ap), with each time goals in the last moments, the Ivorians were finally masters of their subject only in the half against the DR Congo (1-0).
In the final, they always looked to play and never got discouraged. Max-Alain Gradel saw Calvin Bassey on his knees deflect his dangerous shot (50th), Odilon Kossounou forced Stanley Nwabali into a cuff (62nd).
Triumph of the hosts
A host country wins for the first time since Egypt in 2006, against… Ivory Coast (0-0, 4 tab to 2).
And Ivory Coast finally scored for the first time in five CAN finals. She finished the first four 0-0, winning two (1992 and 2015) and losing as many (2006, 2012) on penalties.
2024: Ivory Coast
2022: Senegal
2019: Algeria
2017: Cameroon
2015: Ivory Coast
2013: Nigeria
2012: Zambia
2010: Egypt
2008: Egypt
2006: Egypt
AFP
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