Gritty Ivorians live another day
LATE EXTRA TIME GOAL PUTS HOSTS INTO SEMIS
Aback-heel goal by Oumar Diakite in added time at the end of extra-time gave hosts Ivory Coast a 2-1 win over Mali in Bouake on Saturday after a dramatic Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) quarterfinal.
Reduced to 10 men by a red card at the end of the first-half, the Ivorians fell behind in the second-half to a Nene Dorgeles goal only for Simon Adingra to equalise in the 90th minute.
The result marked another upward turn for the Ivory Coast in a roller coaster Afcon campaign in which they scraped into the knockout stage after a 4-0 hiding from Equatorial Guinea.
It was a heartbreaking outcome for Mali, who dominated for long periods and, despite missing a penalty, seemed set to maintain a record of never losing a Cup of Nations quarterfinal.
Ivory Coast now return to Abidjan, where they will face the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday in the semifinals, but Diakite is set to miss out after picking up a second yellow card while celebrating his winning goal.
“After this kind of match, there are no real things to explain, it is just emotions,” said Diakite.
“My joy was so great that I forgot that I had a yellow card. It was a mistake on my part. Even if I am not there, we can do the job (reach the final).”
Odilon Kossounou, sent off late in the first-half, captain Serge Aurier and forward Christian Kouame have also been ruled out of the semifinal due to suspensions.
This was the sixth meeting of the countries in the Afcon with the two-time champions Ivory Coast winning four and drawing one previously against rivals whose best showing was 1972 runners-up.
Mali made light of the fact that the majority of the capacity 40 000 crowd in the central city were supporting the host nation and established early dominance.
But when Kossounou fouled Lassine Sinayoko, the Egyptian referee pointed to the spot only for Adama “Noss” Traore to have his 17th-minute penalty saved by Youssouf Fofana.
Diakite was involved in the last-gasp equaliser with Adingra pouncing on a deflection off Boubakar Kouyate inside the area and hammering the ball past goalkeeper Djigui Diarra.
Another Ivorian substitute, Sebastien Haller, headed against the crossbar in the first-half of extra time.