The program of the day

Another day of rest at the African Cup of Nations. And everyone will need it to recover from the strong emotions of these quarter-finals.

Read also Find the table for the final phase

What will the semi-finals look like?

Nigeria, DR Congo, Ivory Coast or South Africa? One of these four nations will lift the trophy on February 11. Review of the CAN 2024 semi-finalists.

Read: Nigeria, DR Congo, Ivory Coast and South Africa: a throne for four at CAN 2024

The article to read: the tops and flops of CAN 2024

After the quarter-finals of CAN 2024, it is time to take a first assessment of this competition in Ivory Coast. The France 24 team has selected its tops and flops from the African Cup.

An article to find Sunday morning on France24.com

What happened yesterday

Ivory Coast, queen of the gong:

nothing can stop the Elephants! A penalty whistled against them? Yahia Fofana stops him. A red card before half-time? We don't see the difference because the Ivorians are so committed. Led at the start of stoppage time? Simon Adingra sets the record straight. Don't want to go to penalties? Diakité scores just before the bell.

Williams, South Africa's one-night hero:

 the Blue Sharks and Bafana Bafana have been searching for a long time for the key that would open the door to the semi-finals. The match could have been over before the penalty shootout, but the goalkeepers made their decisive saves: first Williams who blocked a shot on his crossbar, then Vozinha who made a splendid double save at point blank range. But in this "ganto a ganto", it was the South African goalkeeper who won the standoff by stopping four shots on goal out of the five attempted by the Cape Verdeans. Heroic.

In short

Four 0-0s in 48 matches

: the CAN, a competition without spectacle? Nonsense! We are witnessing one of the most beautiful African Cups of all time and this statistic says everything about the quality of the matches on offer.

Ronwen Williams, this hero:

two records for the Bafana Bafana goalkeeper. He becomes the second South African goalkeeper to keep clean sheets in 4 African Cup matches, but the first to do so in 4 consecutive matches.

But above all he is the very first goalkeeper to stop 4 out of 5 shots on goal since Opta followed the CAN in 2010. He is more than logically the man of the match. And tonight, the hero of an entire country.

4 - South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams stopped 4 of Cape Verde's 5 shots on goal in the semi-final of the African Cup of Nations, a record since Opta analyzed the competition (2010). Hero. pic.twitter.com/yFmoDazBhy

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) February 3, 2024

The CAN news

18:42

The CAN news © France 24

Catch the CAN news every match night live at 11:10 p.m. on France 24

Today's statement

Serge Aurier, captain of the Ivory Coast, after the qualification:

"We are happy with the scenario of the match. We really had a special evening with a lot of twists and turns. I think we can't do better what we did in terms of emotion and joy. Frankly, tonight is magnificent."

💬 “Tonight, we are happy, we can't do better”



Serge #Aurier spoke after the victory of #CôteDIvoire in Bouaké. The Elephants will face #DRCongo in the semi-final next Wednesday.



📹 @RHoueix @Laurakimmousset#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 #CAN2023 #MLICIV pic.twitter.com/K8LRCUQts5

— FRANCE 24 Français (@France24_fr) February 3, 2024

Picture of the day

Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams stopped 4 shots on goal against Cape Verde to send South Africa to the CAN 2024 semi-finals. © Themba Hadebe, AP

The hero of the Cape Verde - South Africa match has a name: Ronwen Williams, the only man capable of stopping four shots on goal in a five-penalty session at the CAN. Spectacular.

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