Ivory Coast reach quarter-finals of African Cup
CABINDA, Angola (AP) — Ivory Coast beat Ghana 3-1 to be the first quarterfinalist at the African Cup of Nations yesterday.
Ivory Coast, down to 10 men after Emmanuel Eboue was sent off in the 56th minute, have four points from two games in the tapered Group B, enough to guarantee a spot in the knockout phase.
Ghana, who were playing their first game following Togo’s withdrawal, will meet Burkina Faso next Tuesday in a winner-takes-all match. Each of the three teams will play only twice in Group B after Togo withdrew following a deadly attack against their team bus before the tournament started.
Gervinho, Siaka Tiene and Didier Drogba scored for Ivory Coast, and Asamoah Gyan replied for Ghana in injury time.
Ivory Coast coach Vahid Halilhodzic started without striker Baky Kone, who was replaced by Salomon Kalou after missing three clear chances against Burkina Faso.
Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien was left out of Ghana’s starting lineup after a late arrival in Angola due to bad weather in England. He was sent in after halftime for his first action in a month following a hamstring strain.