How Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire made Africa Cup of Nations final
The Africa Cup of Nations — one of the wildest, toughest and most competitive soccer tournaments on the planet — is coming to an end this weekend. Twenty-four teams entered from all over the African continent — from Tunisia in the north to South Africa in the south, from Cabo Verde in the west to Mozambique in the east — but just two remain: Nigeria and Cote D'Ivoire. They'll face off Sunday to determine who will be African champion.
Nigeria and Cote D'Ivoire know each other well. They faced off in the group stage of this competition in January. Nigeria won that match 1-0, but much has changed for both teams on their path to the African championship.
Nigeria entered the tournament as perennial favorites. As the most populous nation in Africa, expectations are always high for Nigeria's Super Eagles. They are three-time African champions (1980, 1994 and 2013) and frequent World Cup qualifiers. Featuring well-known players such as Napoli's Victor Osimhen, Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho, Fulham's Alex Iwobi and AC Milan's Samuel Chukwueze, Nigeria was expected to dominate.
While Nigeria earned its spot in the final fair and square, "domination" hasn't exactly been on the cards. It sailed through the group stage without losing but only managed to score one goal in each of its three games. It performed a bit better against Cameroon in the Round of 16 but struggled mightily against Angola in the quarterfinals, winning 1-0. It played out 120 stalemate minutes against South Africa in the semis before squeaking through on a penalty shootout.
For Nigeria to win the championship, it will have to be more clinical in front of goal because Cote D'Ivoire has two things Nigeria doesn't: home-field advantage and an avalanche of positive momentum.
Cote D'Ivoire, as host of this tournament, was also expected to perform well. It's a country with a rich soccer tradition. Longtime fans of the sport will no doubt remember Ivorian superstars Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Eboue and Gervinho.
But this particular Ivorian vintage entered the tournament struggling under French coach Jean-Louis Gasset.
It won its opening match against Guinea-Bissau but lost 1-0 to Nigeria in game two. On the verge of an early elimination, Cote D'Ivoire needed to win against tiny Equatorial Guinea in game three to lock down its place in the knockout rounds. It didn't, stunningly losing 4-0.
Certain of Cote D'Ivoire's pending elimination and furious with its underperformance, the team sacked coach Jean-Louis Gasset shortly after the Equatorial Guinea defeat. But in a bizarre twist of fate, results in other matches meant that Cote D'Ivoire wasn't eliminated after all — it qualified for the next round in the final available seed. The Ivorians rejoiced, but they knew what was coming: a match against Senegal, the defending champions, with no permanent coach on the sidelines.
Hastily appointed interim coach Emerse Faé led his team to a shock 1-1 draw with Senegal. When it came down to penalties, Côte D'Ivoire won — and the team's turnaround was complete.
"I told the players we were dead after the defeat against Equatorial Guinea," Faé said after the win. "We were resurrected."
Two spirited wins followed — a 2-1 extra-time comeback against Mali in the quarterfinals and an assured 1-0 against the Congo in the semis. Suddenly, Cote D'Ivoire wasn't merely back from the dead. It was better than it had ever been.
Nigeria and Cote D'Ivoire will face off for the African championship in Abidjan on Sunday.
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