There will be some outstanding individual talent on display when Cote d'Ivoire tackle Ghana in a much-anticipated African Nations Cup final in Equatorial Guinea on Sunday night, and Ivorian coach Herve Renard hopes that at least one of his star names will rise to the occasion.
Yaya Toure has had a quiet tournament so far by his high standards, but was an influence when the Ivorians thumped DR Congo 3-1 in the semi-final on Wednesday.
Renard hopes that performance will spur the player on to put in another match-winning display against the Black Stars.
"I'm sure Yaya will play a decisive game. He will arrive in time. You saw he scored a fantastic goal in the semi-final and that was not by chance," Renard told reporters.
"When you are a fantastic player, these key important games are for you. They are always ready. For them there is no added pressure. The adrenalin of the competition is making all the difference.
"I'm sure Yaya will play a very good final."
Toure will hope it is third time lucky for him after losing in the 2006 and 2012 finals. But he will not be joined in the midfield by Cheick Tiote, who has picked up an ankle injury.
Renard could become the first coach to win the Nations Cup title with two different countries after leading Zambia to the championship in 2012, somewhat ironically against Cote d'Ivoire.
"We are focused on the target. We have not talked a lot before the tournament about our ambitions but we know why we are here and what we need to do," Renard said. "There will be a time to talk later but most important is to play on Sunday."
Ghana coach Avram Grant stands on the threshold of a mighty achievement. After being in the job for only a couple of months he now has a chance of taking the Black Stars to their first continental title in 33 years.
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He has repeated Nigeria's mantra of two years ago, saying his side have improved their performance with each game and are now ready to peak.
"We lost the first game, we won the second in the last minute. The third game we had to win, and we came from behind to do it," Grant said.
"Every game we're playing better football and we're scoring a lot of goals. My players picked themselves up and they showed Ghana that they could count on them.
"It's good to go to the final as no one gave us a chance. They spoke of other teams, saying they were better than us, but we are the ones in the final and now we want to win the cup."
Ghana should have striker Asamoah Gyan fit after a stomach injury that forced him out of their semi-final victory over hosts Equatorial Guinea.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football have called for more security to be in place for the final after 36 people were injured, one seriously, in Thursday's semi-final in Malabo.
