Ivory Coast beat Angola in Afcon
Ivorians down Angola
Posted: Jan 30 2012
Angola have exited the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations after a 2-0 defeat to Ivory Coast at the Stade D’Angondje in Malabo thanks to goals from Emmanuel Eboue and Wilfried Bony.
Ivory Coast and Sudan have qualified to the knock out stage in Group B after having come top with nine points and second with four points respectively in tonight’s game. Sudan progressed based on superior goal difference over Angola.
The Elephants will now face co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in the quarter-final.
Pre-tournament favourites Ivory coast benched key players including Arsenal’s Gervinho and captain Didier Drogba, who came in later as a substitute, but despite this the Elephants were superior throughout the game.
Galatasaray right back Eboue put the west Africans in the lead in the first half and that scoreline remained into the interval. Defender Miguel cleared the ball poorly and the Ivorian was on hand to bury the ball into the net to make it 1-0 for the Elephants.
When the game resumed, a determined Ivorian side were prepared to aggravate the woes of the 2010 Afcon hosts and that was perfectly executed with some pressure on the Palancas Negras defence.
Vitesse’s Bony capitalised on a defensive howler when centre-back Dany headed the ball past his own goalkeeper Wilson Alegre, energising the Ivorian striker to quickly follow up with a tap in header into an open net.
It was a sad ending for Angola coach Lito Vidigal, hoping to improve on his quarter-final finish on home soil two years ago, but a pleasing conclusion for Ivorian trainer Francois Zahouis.
The Elephants will now play co-hosts Equatorial Guinea on February 4 in the last eight.
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