In a game they seemed to have in hand, Ivory Coast completely collapsed as they lost 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea, who played a perfect game and finished top of Group A. With three points, the elephants now have to wait until the results of the other groups know whether they qualify.
Published on: January 22, 2024 – 8:01 p.m
4 mins
Jean-Louis Gasset warned after the defeat against Nigeria: “We must quickly forget this game and concentrate on the next one.” Unfortunately for him, the scenario of this game was even worse than the previous one. Disappointed with the performance of his attackers, the Ivorian coach decided to rethink his copy for this game, giving a chance to Nicolas Pépé at the head of the attack and Oumar Diakite on the right.
At the start of the game, the French technician's choice in the game paid off, his players began this game with much more grit, fighting spirit and technical accuracy than they had finished the previous one. From then on, Equatorial Guinea, committed to the Elephants' cause, found it difficult to prevail in the face of the Ivorians' physical prowess at the sweltering Alassane Ouattara Stadium.
The Nzalang Raid
And yet Emilio Nsue, who had already scored a hat-trick in the last game against Guinea-Bissau, managed to send the ball into the net when Yahya Fofana received a cross from the right (42 .). Thunderclap in Ebimpé, while the Ivorians appeared to largely dominate their theme.
Since the attackers were much more motivated than against Nigeria and an unstoppable Oumar Diakité on the right, the Ivorians reacted quickly. They even thought they would equalize in the 45th minute of the game, as a goal from Sangaré was canceled by the referee for offside.
It's hard to imagine a worse scenario for the Elephants, whose game began to unravel after the Nigerians' first score. This time, Seko Fofana and his teammates managed to stay in the game by continuing to put pressure on the Equatoguinean goal without managing to find the mistake, despite certain almost unavoidable opportunities such as this shot from Kouame that went to the The Nzalang goalkeeper was shot when he was alone in front of the goal. In the 66th minute of the game, Jean-Philippe Krasso, who had just entered the field, thought he had equalized for the entire stadium with a curved left-foot shot, but the referee declared the goal invalid a second time because of offside.
The evening turns into a nightmare
But barely six minutes later the game turned into a nightmare for Gasset's men. While Ivory Coast was still hoping for a comeback, Pablo Ganet warmed up the entire stadium by sending a magnificent right-footed free kick straight into the top corner. Less than two minutes later, the completely stunned Elephants lost the ball after the start and left the Equatoguineans alone on goal, allowing Emilio Nsué to further increase the score and score his fifth goal of the competition. Jannick Buyla Sam will ultimately contribute to the result with his fourth goal against a completely weak Ivorian defense
With this prestigious victory, the Nzalang national team takes first place in Group A, while the future becomes bleaker for the Ivorians. With three points they still have little chance of qualifying as one of the best third parties. But will the elephants still have the resources they need to recover from such a slap in the face?
Nigeria wins against Guinea-Bissau
In the other Group A match, played at the Félix Houphoüet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Nigeria managed to defeat Guinea-Bissau 1-0. The Super Eagles scored their first goal in the 36th minute of the game with an own goal from Bissau Guinea's Grandpa Sanganté, who was put under pressure by Victor Osimhen.
Once again the Nigerians won by a narrow margin but they worked hard to secure their qualification. With seven points, as many as Equatorial Guinea, but with a lower goal difference, they finished second in this Group A and reached the round of 16.
Also read CAN 2024: Relive the Guinea-Bissau-Nigeria match