A grim evening for the Ivory Coast, who are sinking against Equatorial Guinea

Published on: 01/22/2024 – 8:01 pm

4 minutes

After the loss to Nigeria, Jean-Louis Gasset warned, “ We should quickly forget this match and focus on the next match “Unfortunately for him, the situation in this match was even worse for him than the previous match. Disappointed with the performance of his attackers, the Ivorians coach decided to review his formation for this match and gave opportunities to Nicolas Pepe at the forefront of attack and Oumar Diakite on the right.

At the start of the match, the French technician’s choice paid off in the game, his players started this match with much more fight, fight and technical accuracy than the previous match. From then on, in the white-hot Alassane Ouattara Stadium committed to the cause of the elephants, it was difficult for Equatorial Guinea to exist in the face of the physical might of the Ivorians.

Nzalang hold-up

And yet, on the Nzalange national’s only attack in the entire first period, Emilio Nsue, author of a hat-trick in the previous match against Guinea-Bissau, managed to put the ball into the back of Yahya Fofana’s net at the receiving end. Cross from the right (42m). Thunderclap in Ebimpé, when the Ivorians mostly dominated their subject.

Against Nigeria the attackers were clearly more motivated and with Omar Diakite incapacitated on the right, the Ivorians responded quickly. They even thought they would equalize in the 45th minute of the game with a Sangare goal disallowed by the referee for an offside position.

It is hard to imagine a worse scenario for the Elephants, whose play gradually disintegrated after the Nigerians opened the scoring. This time, Seko Fofana and his teammates managed to stay in the match by putting constant pressure on the Equatoguinian goal, with Koume’s shot hitting the Nzalang goalkeeper when he was alone. of the goal. at 66^E Minutes into the game, Jean-Philippe Cresseau, who had just entered the field, thought he had equalized with a curling left-footed shot that filled the stadium, but for the second time the referee disallowed the goal for off position. – The game.

The evening turns into a nightmare

But after barely six minutes, the match turned into a nightmare for Gasset’s men. While Ivory Coast were still hoping to come back, Pablo Gannet air-conditioned the entire stadium by sending a superb free kick with his right foot straight into the top corner. Barely two minutes later, the completely stunned Elephants lost the ball after the kick-off and left the Equatoguineans to go through on goal alone, allowing Emilio Nsue to further extend the score and score his fifth goal of the competition. Janic Biala Sam would add to the score with a fourth goal against a completely depleted Ivorian defence

With this prestigious win, the national Nzalang secure first place in Group A, while the future looks bleak for the Ivorians. With three points, they still have a small chance of qualifying as one of the best third places. But even so, will the elephants have the necessary tools to recover from such a slap?

Nigeria won against Guinea-Bissau

In the other Group A match, which was played at the Felix Haufoit-Boini Stadium in Abidjan, Nigeria managed to beat Guinea-Bissau (1-0). The Super Eagles opened the scoring in the 36th minute of the game thanks to an own goal by Bissau-Guinea Opa Sangante who was put under pressure by Victor Osimhen.

Once again, the Nigerians won by the slimmest of margins, but they worked to secure their qualification. With seven points, the same as Equatorial Guinea, but with a lower goal difference, they are second in Group A and will see the Round of 16.

Also readCAN 2024: Relive the Guinea-Bissau-Nigeria match