Ivory Coast sank Monday against Equatorial Guinea, beaten 4-0, at the Ebimpé stadium, near Abidjan, a second defeat in a row which risks depriving it of the round of 16 of “its” Cup of Nations. Africa of Nations.
Second defeat in a row
The Elephants finished third in Group A with three points and must now wait until Wednesday to find out if they will be among the four best third-placed teams qualified for the round of 16. But with a negative goal difference (-3), the mission seems delicate. Equatorial Guinea qualifies first with 7 points, just ahead of Nigeria, winner of Guinea Bissau (1-0) and ahead on goal difference.
The Ivorians have long controlled possession of the ball, but like Thursday against Nigeria (0-1) they lacked the creativity and skill to really worry the Equatoguinean goalkeeper Jesus Owono. The Elephants coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, had however made four changes in his starting eleven, notably starting the Rémois Oumar Diakité on the right, very restless.
Equatorial Guinea opened the scoring on one of its rare chances, at the end of the first period, by its home scorer Emilio Nsue, well served by Carlos Akapo who had broken through a passive Ivorian defense. The Elephants thought they could catch up in added time of the first period but Ibrahim Sangaré’s goal was disallowed for an offside position.
A miracle to hang on to the eighths
The second period was similar to the first with the Equatorial Guineans regrouping well and regularly breaking the rhythm. The Ivorians, however, had more opportunities to equalize. Sangaré first in the 46th minute. But his shot from close range went over. Then Christian Kouamé, alone against Owono, then missed his face to face by stumbling on the Alaves goalkeeper (57th).
In the 67th minute, the stadium capsized again after a goal from Jean-Philippe Krasso, who had entered the game a few minutes earlier. But once again, the goal was disallowed for offside. Six minutes later, Franck Kessié’s teammates were punished by a superb direct free kick from Pablo Ganet, in one of Equatorial Guinea’s rare forays.
The Ivorians, in dire straits, then conceded a third goal by Emilio Nsue, on a quickly led counter (75th). With this double, the Nzalang captain has 5 goals and is at the top of the CAN scorers rankings.
The final blow was delivered by a final counterattack by Jannick Buyla in the 88th minute. A goal which provoked a few outbursts of temper – throwing bottles, projectiles – in the aisles of the stadium which had already become quite empty at 3-0. Ivory Coast will now wait feverishly for the last matches of the other five groups to find out if it secures a ticket for the eighth. Which would be a miracle.