No single player symbolises Ivory Coast’s remarkable turnaround to reach this weekend’s Africa Cup of Nations final quite like striker Sebastien Haller.

The 29-year-old was the host country’s match-winner in the semi-final against the Democratic Republic of Congo in his first start of the tournament after injury.

That came after a year marked by a return from cancer and then an agonising climax to the German Bundesliga title race with Borussia Dortmund.

Like Didier Drogba once upon a time, Haller is the poster boy of the Elephants team at this, their home Cup of Nations.

He appears on billboards across Abidjan, advertising anything from mineral water to deodorant and a major mobile phone operator.

“It’s bizarre. I wasn’t expecting that,” he admitted ahead of the tournament when asked about seeing his face everywhere.

“I need to use this notoriety to serve as an example to others.”

Yet it looked like he might not play any part in the competition as an ankle injury picked up playing for Dortmund in December prevented him from featuring in the group stage.

The Ivorians were on the brink of a humiliating group-stage exit after a stunning 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in their third game, but squeezed through as the last of the four best third-placed teams.

Haller was therefore able to play a part from the bench under interim coach Emerse Fae — appointed mid-tournament to replace the sacked Jean-Louis Gasset — as Ivory Coast faced Senegal in the last 16.

He scored in the penalty shoot-out as the hosts knocked out the holders, and he again played an important part as a substitute in the dramatic quarter-final win over Mali.

Finally considered fit to start in the semi-final, it was his volley that saw off DR Congo at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium.

“It is true that we had a few slip-ups at the start of the competition but maybe we are a different team now,” he told broadcaster Canal Plus Afrique after that game before playing down his own role in the semi-final triumph.

“I wasn’t really thinking that I absolutely had to score. The most important thing was to help the team,” he said.

Struggles at club level

Haller was born in France and represented them up to Under-21 level, playing alongside 2018 World Cup winners such as Benjamin Pavard and Ousmane Dembele.

However, with the call from France senior coach Didier Deschamps never coming, he accepted the offer in 2020 to play for Ivory Coast, the country of his mother’s birth.

“When I scored my first goal on my first cap against Madagascar, it was really something. I was so happy,” he later recalled in an interview with So Foot magazine.

Haller played in the Ivorian team that went out of the last Cup of Nations in Cameroon in the last 16.

At that point the former Eintracht Frankfurt and West Ham United forward was starring for Ajax, banging in the goals in the Netherlands and in the UEFA Champions League.

A big-money move to Dortmund followed in July 2022, with the German club seeing him as the man to replace Erling Haaland, who had just been sold to Manchester City.

However, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer just days after joining, and several months of treatment followed, including four rounds of chemotherapy and two operations.

His first competitive appearance for the club only came on January 22 last year against Augsburg.

He went on to score nine goals in the run-in as Edin Terzic’s side looked certain to end a decade of Bayern Munich dominance and win the Bundesliga.

They were in the driving seat on the final day of the campaign, but Haller missed a penalty in a 2-2 draw with Mainz which allowed Bayern to pip Dortmund on goal difference.

There has been little to shout about at club level since then for Haller, who has not started a game for Dortmund since September and has not scored since netting a brace in a Cup tie against lower-league opponents on August 12.

Yet now he has the chance to lead his country to Cup of Nations glory on Sunday against Nigeria, something which he will also hope can kickstart his club career.

Source: AFP

Nigeria are through to the final of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations after a pulsating penalty shootout against South Africa.

The Super Eagles prevailed 4-2 on penalties following a gripping 1-1 draw over 120 minutes in the city of Bouake.

Goalkeeping heroes Stanley Nwabali and Ronwen Williams took center stage at the Stade de la Paix.

Both men made athletic saves throughout the game to keep their teams level. However, the tie was defined by their penalty shootout exploits.

Nwabali emerged triumphant, saving two spot-kicks to break South African hearts.

Source: CAFonline

A back-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 quarter-final.

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 quarter-final.

Ivory Coast now return to Abidjan, where they will face the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday in the semi-finals, 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 semi-final 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.

Ivory Coast caretaker coach Emerse Fae made three changes to the lineup that started in the dramatic last-16 penalty shootout triumph over defending champions Senegal.

In came midfielder Franck Kessie, scorer of the winning penalty, winger Nicolas Pepe and forwards Kouame in place of Ibrahim Sangare, Diakite and Jean-Philippe Krasso.

Mali had one enforced change to the team that defeated Burkina Faso to set up the west African showdown with Diadie Samassekou replacing ill Mohamed Camara in midfield.

Dominant Mali

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.

The Eagles had an appeal for a penalty rejected after the ball struck the outstretched hand of Kossounou because there had been an earlier offside.

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.

Ivory Coast were battling to create chances until just before half-time when Seko Fofana blazed over when offered a good chance just outside the area.

A troubled first half for Kossounou got worse on 44 minutes when shown a yellow card for the second time, after clipping Sinayoko, and was sent off.

Fae immediately brought on Wilfried Singo to bolster the defence with Pepe sacrificed, and Ivory Coast were lucky to still be level when the half ended.

Mali attacked continuously against 10 men and finally broke the deadlock when Dorgeles raced across the pitch and from just outside the D unleashed a shot that flew past Fofana.

Substitute Diakite came close to levelling, with his header from a corner finishing just off target.

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.

Also on Saturday, Cape Verde face 1996 champions South Africa in the last quarter-final in Yamoussoukro and the winners face Nigeria for a place in the final.

Source: AFP

Ademola Lookman scored his third goal in two games as Nigeria advanced to the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on Friday with a 1-0 victory over Angola in the last eight.

Lookman again stole the limelight from Victor Osimhen by following his brace in the 2-0 defeat of Cameroon in the last 16 by breaking the deadlock four minutes before half-time at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium.

The Super Eagles then saw the game out before a crowd of 18,757 in Abidjan, with Osimhen finding the net only for his effort to be disallowed after the VAR ruled him to be offside.

The Napoli superstar, Africa’s reigning footballer of the year, remains stuck on just one goal at this AFCON, but Nigeria’s success has been built around an impressive defence that has now kept four consecutive clean sheets.

“They created more chances against us than anyone else until now. Angola did not reach the quarter-finals by some miracle,” said Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro.

“They are a good team, but once again we didn’t concede. Once again we scored once.

“I would have liked to score more. With better finishing we could have scored another one or two goals, but I am happy. My players deserved it.”

The three-time continental champions advance to a last-four tie next Wednesday against Cape Verde or South Africa in the central Ivorian city of Bouake — those sides meet in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Angola, meanwhile, go home but this Cup of Nations will be remembered as a success for the Black Antelopes, after they won a knockout tie at the tournament for the first time ever.

Africa’s 28th-ranked side battled bravely here but could not follow up their victory over Namibia in the last round.

“Nigeria are really a very strong team. Congratulations to Jose Peseiro, who has shown how to build a structure that brings success,” said Angola coach Pedro Goncalves.

“I am grateful to my players for the run they have had and very proud of what they have done.”

Nigeria struggled to reach the same heights as against Cameroon six days earlier, undoubtedly affected by the heat and humidity which was even more energy-sapping than at previous points in the competition.

Angola almost took the lead inside four minutes, as a corner from their right was helped on to Mabululu, whose attempt at the near-post was kept out by Stanley Nwabili, the Nigerian goalkeeper who had passed a fitness test to play.

Osimhen tried his luck twice from headers but it was Lookman, the Atalanta forward and former England Under-21 international, who broke the deadlock in the 41st minute.

Moses Simon collected a pass on the left, accelerated away from Kialonda Gaspar and drove into the area before cutting the ball back for Lookman to finish.

Nigeria continued to create chances after the break, but Angola did pass up a glorious opportunity to draw level just before the hour mark.

AEK Athens striker Zini, on as a half-time substitute, was sent through on goal and his effort beat Nwabili, only to rebound back off the far post.

It was a major let-off for Nigeria, who then thought they had killed the game off when Osimhen rose to head home a Lookman free-kick with a quarter of an hour left, the ball going in despite the Angolan goalkeeper getting a touch.

However, the effort was disallowed to the frustration of Osimhen, who carried on until the final moments despite taking a succession of knocks and being helped to the side of the pitch on a stretcher at one point.

Source: AFP