21 January 2008
Lagos — An individual brilliant move in the 65th minute by Salomon Kalou yesterday gave Cote d'Ivoire a lone goal victory over Nigeria in the group B opening match in Sekondi.
The Elephant striker sneaked through a packed Nigerian defence to rifle in beyond Austin Ejide.
Last night's victory underlined the Elephants' supremacy over the Eagles who similarly lost to their west coast rivals two years ago in the semi final of Egypt 2006.
Cote d'Ivoire's attack which was laid back in the first half came to life in the second half with the introduction of Kader Keita for Lahore Gohouri.
The Lyon forward made an instant impact by creating space for Drogba, Kalou and Aruna Dindane.
The Eagles had a fair share of domination in the first half but were undone by lack of finishing.
Coach Berti Vogts game plan collapsed after captain Nwankwo Kanu hobbled out of the match in 56th minute with a knee problem.
The Eagles dictated the pace of the match early in to the match as Mikel John Obi, Obafemi Martins conjured a pass for Nwankwo Kanu who blasted narrowly off the mark from 35 metres out.
Ivorien keeper Boubakar Barry battled with nerves early on as he was rattled by Martins from a long range shot.
Taye Taiwo fierce free kick shot hit the top on the 15th minute. The Elephants defended in numbers and occasionally relied on Boka Arthur to break from the left.
Nigeria's lack of pace was a minus though Mikel's creative play in the middle gave hope.
Ejide was up to the task on several occasions. He deflected a Drogba free kick to the sky and parried another blast by Yahaya Toure. On the 58th minute the Bastia keeper was again up to the task by denying Kolo Toure who had his sight on goal.
Nigeria's best chance in the second half fell to Martin who was played in on the hour by Yakubu Aiyegbeni.
But his low jab was blocked by Barry. Kalou's goal was a coup de grace for the Eagles who now made a late rally to split the points. The Elephants held their advantage and late in the game looked likely to add to their one goal lead.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
