How hot is it for Ivory Coast to win the championship? change of coach in the group stage, a draw in the knockout round + a reversal in the final
On February 12, Beijing time, the new Africa Cup of Nations championship was announced, and Ivory Coast defeated Nigeria 2-1 and won the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time in team history. Infantino, Arsene Wenger, Drogba and others watched the game. Ekong scored with a header in the first half to give Nigeria the lead. In the second half, Kessie's header helped Ivory Coast equalise, Adigra assisted Alle's goal to reverse the score, and finally the host Ivory Coast defeated Nigeria 2-1 to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time.
Ivory Coast can win the championship is very burning, let's take a look at their journey to the championship:
The performance in the group stage was sluggish, 2-0 Guinea-Bissau got off to a good start, but soon 0-1 Nigeria, 0-4 Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast third in the group thrillingly qualified, fired the head coach, and Fayi took office temporarily;
In the first game of the knockout round, he fell behind for a whole game, drew with Senegal, won 5-4 in the penalty shootout, and advanced thrillingly;
In the second game of the knockout round, the Ivorian players received a red card in the first half, played one less and conceded a goal in the second half, but successfully drew with Mali, and the last second of extra time was killed.
Beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 to advance to the final;
In the final, once again behind Nigeria, again, to achieve a reversal and win the championship.
After the final, Ivory Coast won the Africa Cup of Nations, the runner-up Nigeria's Ekong won the tournament MVP, and the interim coach of Côte d'Ivoire won the best coach of the Africa Cup of Nations. Along the way, it was not easy for Ivory Coast to win the championship, with consecutive behind, draws, kills, penalty shootouts, and reversals to win the championship.
Drogba was disappointed when he was 1-0 down in the final, knowing that the Africa Cup of Nations was held in Côte d'Ivoire and as hosts, they were aiming for the title, and high hopes were high. Fortunately, the whole team overtook in a desperate situation and won the championship, which was also the first time in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations that the host team won the championship since 2006.
Finally, congratulations to Côte d'Ivoire for winning the Africa Cup of Nations and achieving the goal of winning the championship for the third time at home. Nigeria finished runners-up and Ekong was the Player of the Tournament.