The Elephants of Ivory Coast, in front of home fans, pulled off another remarkable escape act in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Cote d’Ivoire and DR Congo will face each other in the semi-finals on Wednesday, February 7th at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan.
They won the quarterfinal match against Mali with a 122nd-minute goal from Oumar Diakite, which broke the hearts of the losing team.
The Ivorians played most of the game at a disadvantage since Odilon Kossounou was sent off for two first-half fouls on Lassine Sinayoko. They went behind to Nene Dorgeles’ beautiful curling shot.
In the 90th minute of the game, the Elephants managed to equalize thanks to an opportunistic finish from Simon Adingra. Then, in the extra time, they won the game with virtually the last kick as Diakite deflected Seko Fofana’s shot into the net.
Despite the victory, Diakite’s emotions were mixed as he received a second yellow card for removing his shirt in celebration. This means he will be banned for the upcoming semi-final match against DR Congo.
Unfortunately, the final whistle caused some unpleasant scenes. Several Mali players surrounded the referee, Mohamed Adel, and protested against his decisions. As a result, Hamari Traore was shown a red card for taking his protests too far.
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