The Africa Cup of Nations is heading into the business end of the tournament now, and things are starting to get interesting. We’ve already seen a number of upsets take place throughout the course of the stages thus far, and more are expected as we look ahead to the next set of games. However, there was no upset to be found earlier tonight as Ivory Coast were able to edge out Mali and pick up the win that got them into the quarter-finals.
The popular view
Mali were considered to be rank outsiders to take the win in this game, to the point where there was actually a great deal of intrigue in them with a lot of pundits believing they could get the job done. In the first 45 minutes they were certainly the ones that were pushing the tempo, and in response, the Ivory Coast just couldn’t really get going.
Mali were continually pushing the ball out wide and trying to make things happen, whereas Ivory Coast didn’t really create too many opportunities to speak of. Of course, the longer that the game went on without Mali scoring, the more confidence their opposition gained.
Rising up
In the second half the tempo of the game slowly started to rise, and with just under 15 minutes to go, it was Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha who scored the goal to take his nation through to the next round. Ivory Coast have been able to get themselves out of danger on more than one occasion on this kind of stage before, and it really does feel like their experience helped to get them to the next level.
They’ll now turn their attention to a quarter-final showdown with Algeria, knowing that the tournament has been blown wide open. Mali will go back to the drawing board but they shouldn’t be disappointed about what they’ve been able to do at this point, because there’s still a lot of room for them to grow. Ivory Coast, on the other hand, have shot up in the estimation of many as one of the favourites to walk away with the trophy.
One thing is for sure: the unpredictability in the Africa Cup of Nations is going to continue.
Match Report
Mali: Diarra (6), Kone (7.5), Fofana (7), Wague (6), Traore (6.5), Samassekou (7), Djenepo (7.5), Coulibaly (7), Haidara (6.5), Diaby (6), Marega (6)
Ivory Coast: Gbohouo (7), Bagayoko (6.5), Traore (7.5), Kanon (7.5), Coulibaly (7), Gbamin (7), Die (7), Pepe (6.5), Kessie (6.5), Zaha (7.5), Kodjia (7)
Referee: Janny Sikazwe
Goals: Zaha
Yellow Cards: Coulibaly, Bagayoko
Red Cards: N/A
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