Ivory Coast already eliminated from its African Cup of Nations? It’s quite possible… In any case, the Elephants are third in the standings of Group A after their defeat against Equatorial Guinea (0-4) this Monday, during the third and final day of the group stage. They will have to wait for the results of the other groups to know if they are among the best thirds. Equatorial Guinea is in 8th and finishes first. Nigeria are also qualified for the rest of the competition after their 1-0 victory against eliminated Guinea-Bissau.
The two matches had difficulty finding their rhythms, then at the end of the refreshment break the games got carried away. It began with the Super Eagles opening the score, with a cross from Moses Simon pushed into his own goal by the unfortunate Sangante. In the process, the Equatoguineans responded and surprised a passive Ivorian defense on Akapo’s rush, Nsue, the competition’s top scorer, received the ball and cooled the country at home. For a few seconds, the Elephants thought they had equalized with a nice move concluded by Sangaré, but M.Ismail was forced to refuse it for an offside by the passer Christian Kouamé, before sending the teams back to the locker room.
The second act increased tenfold the feeling felt during the first 45 minutes, the Nzalang Nacional took advantage of the enormous lack of realism of the opponent to stick the knife into the wound right to the bone. With almost the same number of dangerous situations, they added three to the count, Ganet first with a sensational free kick, Nsue scored a double then Buyla joined in the party. The demonstration is total and the Elephants were without defenses, unless a miracle occurs, the hosts of the competition will be eliminated in third place in their own CAN. In the other match, Nigeria lacked inspiration and edge but did the job, the green and white qualified in second position in the group.
