The Ivory Coast is the champion of Africa. The host nation of the competition has completed a dream journey, full of obstacles and difficulties that continued until the final against Nigeria's Osimhen. Great emotion for Roma's Evan Ndicka and Fiorentina's Christian Kouamé, the only Serie A players in the Ivory Coast squad, which also includes other faces from our championship. Under the watchful eye of an attentive Didier Drogba, who cheered like a true fan in the stands, Sebastien Haller scored a true striker's goal from a corner. The Borussia Dortmund striker slipped well on a cross from the left and with the tip of his foot scored the 2-1 goal at 81'.
The rest of the match
The match seemed in the hands of the Ivory Coast who in the first half had shown to have more leg and more heart than Osimhen's Nigeria. At 38', however, came the mockery for the hosts who fall behind for the header of ex-Udinese Troost-Ekong. The goal did not bring down the Elephants who rolled up their sleeves and showed the true meaning of the word resilience by finding the equalizing goal with Kessié. The former Milan player, in fact, scored the equalizer at 62' always on a corner and allowed his team to gain that confidence that never lacked throughout the tournament.
The journey
The victory of the Ivory Coast, in fact, is a true football fairy tale. In the group stage, Kessié and company qualify among the best thirds right behind Nigeria. This result leads to the dismissal of the coach, who is never replaced by a real coach by the federation. In the round of 16 comes the victory against Senegal on penalties, as well as the subsequent one against Mali. In the semi-finals, a goal by Haller allows the Ivory Coast to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo and thus reach the final.
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