Algeria put up a
good fight
against Cote
d'Ivoire at the
Royal Bafokeng
Stadium in Rustenburg on
Wednesday in
Africa Cup of
Nations Group D
match, as the
two best teams on the continent according to the
rankings ended the clash in a 2-2
draw, with the north Africans
leaving the competition. The Elephants rested most of
their veteran players but captain
Didier Drogba was on duty to
shape up his unconvincing form
ahead of their clash against the
Super Eagles of Nigeria in the quarter-finals on Sunday. The Fennec Forces began with
high determination as if much was
at stake despite their elimination
from the competition last Sunday
after losing their second match to
Togo. El Arbi Soudani made a connection to a long cross to the
left edge of the Ivorian box, but
he was harshly blocked inside by
Ismael Traore of French club
Brest. The ensuing penalty was bungled
by Ryad Boudebouz, who crashed
his kick against the right post to
deny his side from taking the lead
early in the sixth minute. The north Africans maintained
domination through the first
quarter, with Salomon Kalou and
Boka Arthur helping their back
half to fend off assaults and
committing nasty fouls in the process, but the Algerians failed
each time to bend any fruitful
efforts from the awarded free
kicks. Drogba was set up by N'dri
Romaric to the right of Algeria
area, but after charging into the
box, the former Chelsea
talisman's effort was thwarted
by Parma's defender Djamel Mesbah, as the Fennecs would
continue on the defensive for
another quarter before getting a
foothold on the game once more. A throw in from Mehdi Mostefa
fell to Soudani in the left flank of
the Ivorian area, but his long-
range strike was perfectly
gathered by goalkeeper Daniel
Yeboah, who was standing in the absence of first choice Copa
Barry. Another Algerian attempt at goal
from Boudebouz went over the
bar by the half hour mark as the
Fennecs coach Vahid Halilhodzic,
who formerly managed the
Elephants, rued his side's continuous lack of success in
front of goal. Drogba drilled a left-footed effort
from the penalty area but it
went over the bar, as Boka's
free kick minutes later was
deflected into a corner. Both
sides could not break the stalemate by the end of the first
half, but Algeria had a slightly
superior domination. Algeria were still in the
ascendancy by the start of
second half, with Drogba in the
rearguard helping out and
tripping Essaid Belkalem in their
area as Kalou barged Boudebouz, but the free kicks from both fouls
went futile. The many free kicks in the game
indicated how physical the
cracker was between the first
and second-rated teams on the
continent. A handball by Boka
gifted Algeria a penalty by the hour mark, whichSofiane Feghouli converted to break the deadlock, as his side continued to
force the Ivorians on the retreat. Algeria doubled their lead 10
minutes later whenSoudani's long-range header off a right
flank cross from Feghouli settled
behind Yeboah in the net.
The Ivorians survived some
minutes of onslaughts from the
Fennec Foxes beforeDrogba headed home from 12 yards after
linking an aerial ball from Boka to
pull one back for his side. The Elephants drew level on 2-2
four minutes later through Wilfried Bony, who raced down into the Algeria area unmarked,
unleashed as right-footed effort
which was deflected by a
defender into the top right side
of the goal as M'Bolhi sprawled in
vain to save his side. Foued Kadir replaced Soudani with
five minutes remaining but the
session would play out without
more goals as Algeria bowed out
of the competition with a strong
showing, and the Ivorians move on to the quarter-finals to face
Nigeria.