Ivory Coast rescue draw against Algeria
Group D winners Ivory Coast rescued a draw against Algeria to maintain their unbeaten record in the Nations Cup.
Algeria, eliminated before the match, missed a first-half penalty through Ryad Boudebouz but Sofiane Feghouli scored from a second spot-kick.
Substitute Feghouli then crossed for Hilal Soudani to power home a header to make it 2-0 before Didier Drogba nodded in superbly to halve the deficit.
A deflected Wilfried Bony shot completed the Ivorians’ comeback.
It was a fightback that had looked in doubt as a reserve Ivory Coast side only raised their game once they went behind.
Ivory Coast did not concede a goal in the 2012 tournament but still lost the final to Zambia – on penalties
With their quarter-final place already booked, having won the group before the game, Ivory Coast made wholesale changes to their team.
Algeria avoided the embarrassment of going home without a point and without a goal
Algeria seemed rampant but Ivory Coast, who are one of the tournament favourites, responded in style.
Not that the Elephants will be too concerned as they march on to face Nigeria in the last eight on Sunday.
This post was written by
A native of Gasabo, Gilbert is an alumnus of the National University of Rwanda (Faculty of Arts,Media and Social Sciences) and has 8 valuable years of experience as a freelance sports columnist for various magazines in Rwanda & Africa. Before joining as Chief Editor of Umupira, he was the Assistant Coach of an U-14 school football team in Kigali. An expert in interpreting and organizing premium sports content, he has revolutionized Umupira, making it the foremost authority on sports in Rwanda.
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