AFCON: Resurgent Super Eagles Beat Hosts Cote D’Ivoire To Book Spot In Knockout Stage

AFTER a floppy performance against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, Nigeria’s Super Eagles put up a top-notch performance against hosts country,  Cote d’Ivoire recording a 1-0 victory thereby guaranteeing a place in the Round of 16.

Stand-in Captain Williams Troost-Ekong’s second-half penalty gave Nigeria a 1-0 win over host the Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Thursday night at the Alhassan Ouattara Stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan.

The defeat means that the host country’s chances of reaching the last 16 now hang in the balance.

Captain Troost-Ekong, of Greek club PAOK, converted from the spot 10 minutes into the second half at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium in Abidjan after a foul on Victor Osimhen was picked up following a VAR check.

The Super Eagles then held on in front of a frenzied crowd to claim their first win in Group A after beginning their AFCON bid with a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea.

The Eagles are locked on four points at the top of the section, with Cote D’Ivoire behind them on three points and Guinea-Bissau already eliminated after losing both games so far.

The fact that the four best third-placed sides in the six groups will all advance to the last 16 leaves a margin for error, but the Elephants must now beat Equatorial Guinea in their last match on Monday to guarantee progress.

On the other hand, Nigeria must simply avoid defeat against Guinea-Bissau – beaten 4-2 by Equatorial Guinea earlier – to ensure a top-two finish.

The match was watched by 49,517 fans, a far higher crowd than that for the hosts’ opening game when the number of empty seats at the 60,000-capacity venue was a source of controversy.

Despite the favourable atmosphere, the Elephants are the first host nation to lose a match in the group phase of an AFCON since 2012, when Equatorial Guinea -– co-hosts that year with Gabon –- went down 1-0 to Zambia.

The last host nation to go out in the first round was Gabon, eliminated with three draws in 2017.

The hosts were still missing star forward Sebastien Haller as he recovers from injury, as coach Jean-Louis Gasset made two changes to his line-up with Serge Aurier coming in at right-back and Christian Kouame on the right wing.

Nigeria were without injured Alhassan Yusuf in midfield and started with a three-man central defence as Fulham’s Calvin Bassey came in.

Eighteen-Eleven Media