Summary
CAN 2024: nightmarish evening for Ivory Coast which sinks against Equatorial Guinea
In a match that it seemed to have in hand, Côte d'Ivoire completely collapsed by losing 4-0 against Equatorial Guinea who played a perfect match and took first place in group A. With three points, the Elephants will now have to wait for the results of the other groups to know if they are qualified.
Ivorian Nicolas Pépé in a duel with Equatorial Guinean Carlos Akapo during the match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast in Abidjan, January 22, 2024. © AP / Sunday Alamba
By: Pierre Fesnien Follow
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Jean-Louis Gasset warned after the defeat against Nigeria, “we must quickly forget this match and concentrate on the next one”.
Unfortunately for him, the scenario of this match was even worse for him than the previous one.
Disappointed by the performance of his attackers, the Ivorians coach decided to review his copy for this match by giving a chance to Nicolas Pépé at the forefront of the attack and to Oumar Diakite on the right side.
At the start of the match, the choice of the French technician paid off in the game, his players starting this match with much more bite, combativeness and technical accuracy than they had finished the previous one.
From then on in a white-hot Alassane Ouattara stadium and committed to the cause of the Elephants, it was difficult for Equatorial Guinea to exist in the face of the physical power of the Ivorians.
The Nzalang hold-up
And yet on the only incursion of the Nzalang nacional of the entire first period, Emilio Nsue, already author of a hat-trick in the previous match against Guinea-Bissau, managed to put the ball in the back of Yahya Fofana's net at the reception of a cross from the right (42nd).
Thunderclap in Ebimpé, while the Ivorians seemed to largely dominate their subject.
With attackers clearly more inspired than against Nigeria and an untenable Oumar Diakité on his right side, the Ivorians reacted quickly.
They even thought they would equalize in the 45th minute of play with a Sangaré goal canceled by the referee for an offside position.
It's difficult to imagine a worse scenario for the Elephants whose play had already gradually disintegrated after the Nigerians opened the score.
This time, Seko Fofana and his teammates managed to stay in the match by continuing to put pressure on the Equatoguinean goal without succeeding in finding the fault despite certain almost unmissable opportunities like this shot from Kouame propelled on the Nzalang goalkeeper when he was alone in front of the goal.
In the 66th minute of play, Jean-Philippe Krasso, who had just entered the field, thought he had delivered the whole stadium by equalizing with a curling left-footed shot but a second time the referee invalidated the goal for a position offside.
The evening turns into a nightmare
But barely six minutes later, the match turned into a nightmare for Gasset's men.
While Ivory Coast was still hoping to come back, Pablo Ganet air-conditioned the entire stadium by sending a sumptuous free kick straight into the top corner with his right foot.
Barely two minutes later, the completely stunned Elephants lost the ball after the start and left the Equatorial Guineans to go alone on goal and allowed Emilio Nsué to further increase the score and score his fifth goal of the competition.
Jannick Buyla Sam will end up adding to the score with a fourth goal against an Ivorian defense completely adrift
With this prestigious victory, the national Nzalang takes first place in group A, while the future darkens for the Ivorians.
With three points, they still have a small chance of qualifying as one of the best third.
But even so, will the Elephants have the necessary resources to recover from such a slap?
Nigeria wins against Guinea-Bissau
In the same group A match which was played at the Félix Houphoüet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan, Nigeria managed to get the better of Guinea-Bissau.
The Super Eagles opened the scoring in the 36th minute of play thanks to an own goal from Bissau-Guinean Opa Sanganté put under pressure by Victor Osimhen.
Once again, the Nigerians won by the narrowest of margins but they did the work to secure their qualification.
With seven points, as many as Equatorial Guinea but with a smaller goal difference, they finished second in this group A and will see the round of 16.
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