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Ugly Scenes In Equatorial Guinea May Overshadow AFCON Final Heavyweight Bout

Ugly Scenes In Equatorial Guinea May Overshadow AFCON Final Heavyweight Bout

On Wednesday night, Cote D’Ivoire eliminated DR Congo in the first semi-final as early goals from Yaya Toure and Gervinho, and a second half strike from Wilfried Kanon, sent The Elephants to their second Cup of Nations final in three years. Florent Ibenge’s men troubled Africa’s perennial favourites for large periods of the match, but were ultimately too wasteful in front of goal and too lackadaisical in defence to keep up with Gervinho and co.

Elephants Overpower Leopards

Defensive problems for The Leopards started early when Joel Kimwaki allowed Wilfried Bony a sizeable cushion to control the ball in the box and face Sylvain Gbouhou’s goal. The TP Mazembe centre-half managed to desperately poke the ball away from Bony, but the bumbling ball fell into the path of Yaya Toure who put all ninety kilograms of his body weight into a belting shot that flew past a hapless Robert Kidiaba.

Until then, DR Congo had conserved possession efficiently and hurt Cote D’Ivoire with direct passes up to striker Dieumerci Mbokani. Mbokani looked particularly up for this match, as his return to Ibenge’s side has been a successful one. The frontman, who plies his trade with Dynamo Kiev, has been stigmatized back home for clashing with erstwhile managers over playing time, and it was not at all certain that he would feature in this edition of the AFCON.

But Mbokani responded with effective hold-up play, and three goals to his name. It was another ‘route-one’ long-ball that brought about DR Congo’s equalizer. Cedrick Mabwati hit a cross that Mbokani and Kolo Toure contested. Both players failed to make contact with the ball which kissed an unsuspecting Eric Bailly’s hand for a penalty. Mbokani would dispatch the spot-kick with ease and draw the Leopards level.

The remainder of the first half was an evenly matched affair until DR Congo’s superstar, Yannick Bolasie, committed a horrendous gaffe. Bolasie, who has also turned heads in the Premier League with Crystal Palace, left his centre-halves isolated when his pass was intercepted by Bony in midfield. Cote D’Ivoire then transitioned quickly and Manchester City’s newest striker served a sumptuous ball to Gervinho who finished with aplomb.

Herve Renard
Herve Renard – Seneweb.com

Herve Renard’s men happily took the two-one lead into half time, but after the break the match opened up and both sides created numerous chances. DR Congo came close to equalizing on several occasions. Bolasie looked especially keen to compensate for his error as he skipped past four defenders and drew a spectacular save from Sylvain Gbouhou’s right foot. But Florent Ibenge inexplicably withdrew Mbokani, who had proved a handful for the Ivorian defence, and in the 67th minute Wilfried Kanon latched on to a rebound off of a Serge Aurier header and put Cote D’Ivoire ahead with his knee.

The 2012 finalists were on cruise control for the final twenty minutes as neither side were clinical enough to affect the scoreline. Like Cote D’Ivoire, Renard also returns to the AFCON final for the second time in three years. The Frenchman also has a chance to make history as he could become the first coach to win the tournament with two different national teams. DR Congo, on the other hand, will have to settle for a potential consolation final in on Saturday.

Fiasco As AFCON Host Is Eliminated

Thursday’s semi-final match will draw more attention for what transpired off the pitch instead of what happened on it. Crowd trouble interrupted Ghana’s match versus Equatorial Guinea for more than thirty minutes. The home supporters did not take kindly to their side trailing and they began to pelt match officials with partially filled water bottles.

When Andre Ayew scored the Black Stars’ third goal, the mob grew rowdier, this time unleashing their frustrations on innocent Ghanaian support. Broken dishes, hundreds of concrete slabs, and shards of glass were found on the pitch. Several Ghanaians were taken to the local hospital with bloody wounds.

The situation in the terraces continued to deteriorate, so just eight minutes from time, the Confederation of African Football decided to evacuate visiting supporters to the stadium tunnel, away from projectile launching. Unfortunately the escort could not reach the tunnel as they were once more targeted by the raucous crowd. The match was interrupted for a lengthy pause until riot police decided to evacuate the home crowd with tear gas and batons.

Half an hour later, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea played three minutes before referee Eric Otongo-Castane called an end to the match. Nzalang Nacional will be especially disappointed with how their tournament has finished, after displaying such positive football. After the match Andre Ayew mentioned the opposition deserved a lap of honour, and he implicitly criticized their home support for ruining the occasion.

Equatorial Guinea coach Esteban Becker and top scorer Javier Balboa both apologized for what transpired in the stands. Goalkeeper Felipe Ovono, who plays in Equatorial Guinea for Deportivo Mongomo also showed contrition and declared that it was the first time he saw supporters in his country acting in such a manner.

Ghana Going All The Way

Ghana now progress to the final for the first time in seven years. The Black Stars have four continental titles to their name and have a prime opportunity to try and shorten the gap Egypt recently opened with their three-peat.

Algerian coach Christian Gourcuff voiced the opinion of many in claiming that Ghana have a more cohesive collective group, while Cote D’Ivoire have more household names. Cote D’Ivoire also have an advantage in Renard as a head coach against their neighbours to the east.

Renard was a part of Ghana’s coaching staff in 2008 under Claude LeRoy. The former Sochaux caretaker also beat Ghana in the 2012 AFCON semi-final with Zambia. He will know the Black Stars inside out and will devise a plan to neutralize their threat. Sunday’s final promises to be a feisty affair.

Equatorial Guinea await a CAF verdict on whether they will even be granted permission to play a consolation final. It is a monumental shame that the main discourse surrounding the AFCON may shift from the entertaining football we saw on display during the knockout stages, to the security lapses and casualty counts of an unruly crowd.