Gradle explored the surface
On a touch, the evening captain is touched but it comes to Mautousamy, who gets the goal kick.
The Ivorians hold the ball early in the match
The Congolese, for their part, try to plan ahead very quickly from their first recovery.
Let’s go to Abimpe Olympic Stadium
Elephants kick off. Ivory Coast are just one match away from their African Cup of Nations final against Nigeria.
Kick-off imminent
A chance to recall the evening’s compositions.
Composition of Ivory Coast: Fofana – Singo, Boli, Ndika, Conan – Seri, KC – Edingra, Fofana, Gradel – Heller.
Composition of DRC: Mpasi – Kalulu, Mbemba, Inonga, Masuaku – Pickel, Moutoussamy – Elia, Kakuta, Wissa – Bakambu.
In the evening the winner will face the Nigerians in the final
The Super Eagles defeated South Africa on penalties in the other semi-final.
Ivory Coast are aiming for a fourth final in 18 years
After losing the first two, in 2006 and 2012, the Elephants finally won in 2015 for the second CAN in their history. On the other hand, the Ivorians rarely lose in the semi-finals: the last time was in 1994.
DRC has been waiting for the final for 50 years
In 1974, when he reached his last final at the African Cup of Nations – and won – the country was still called Zaire, winning his second title in the competition on the occasion. Since then, DRC has lost two of its semi-finals, in 1998 and most notably in 2015, against Côte d’Ivoire.
Two miracle teams
Ivory Coast, as we talked about during this CAN, comes out of nowhere. Almost eliminated in the group stage, she tied for eighth place and was short of the four best third-place finishers. He then went on penalties against Senegal, after equalizing in the 86th minute, and against Mali at the end of extra time (2-1), equalizing in the 90th and scoring the winning goal in the 125th minute.
DR Congo, for its part, came out of the group without winning a single match but earning three draws. They then eliminated Egypt on penalties before securing an emphatic 3–1 victory over Guinea in the quarter-finals.
Back to Kakuta in DRC eleven
Unavailable for the previous two matches against Egypt and Guinea, the playmaker has returned to the starting lineup. For the rest, coach Sebastien Desabre renews the men as in the previous round.
Composition of DRC: Mpasi – Kalulu, Mbemba, Inonga, Masuaku – Pickel, Moutoussamy – Elia, Kakuta, Wissa – Bakambu.
Ivory Coast with Heller, but without Aurier and Pepe
Emers Fay are without four suspended players for this semi-final: Odilon, Diakite, Kouame and especially Aurier, the titular captain during the last two matches. This definitely needs some adjustments. The coach also decided to leave Nicolas Pepe on the bench after the start against Mali.
Composition of Ivory Coast: Fofana – Singo, Boli, Ndika, Conan – Seri, KC – Edingra, Fofana, Gradel – Heller.
“We’re worthless but we’re moving on!”, smiles Gervinho on the Ivory Coast course.
In an interview with RMC Sport, Gervinho, former Ivorian striker and African champion in 2015, addresses his country’s supporters to qualify the Elephants’ trip to CAN ahead of this Wednesday’s semi-final against DR Congo (9pm). .
>> Gervinho interview to read here
Hello everyone
This Wednesday (p. 9) in our live stream to follow the second semi-final of the African Cup of Nations between Ivory Coast and Mali. The hosts of the competition, the Ivorians, miraculously got out of the group through the mouse hole and reached the final four, then won on penalties against Senegal in the 8th round (1-1, 5 tab 5), and finally scored a goal in the last minute after regulation time in the quarter overtime against Mali (2 -1, ap).
Marseillais Chancel Mbemba’s DR Congo beat Egypt in the 8th round (1-1, 8 tab 7), then Guinea (3-1) in the quarter-finals
