Partisans party as 10-man Cote d'Ivoire defy Mali to reach Cup of Nations semis
Spaces for all tastes were operating at the Hotel Tiama on Saturday afternoon for the quarter-final between Cote d’Ivoire and Mali.
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Inside, the Piano Bar L’Equateur offered a big screen, comfy chairs and, in the restrictive humidity of an Abidjan afternoon, air-conditioning.
Hardier souls could brave the elements in the poolside Aqua Bar and a smaller screen while those in search of a party vibe lounged in the Bamboo Terrace - which appropriately offered the Stade Félix Hophouet-Boigny as an appropriate backdrop as well as a giant screen.
All were gathered in the Plateau business district of the city in hope of progress for the national football team to the last four of the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The quest to reach the semi-finals for the first time since Cote d'Ivoire's run to the title in 2015 started badly for the partisans.
Odilon Kossounou was booked after 16 minutes for felling Lassine Sinayoko in the penalty area.
Adama Traoré placed the ball on the penalty spot as eyes squinted in dread. They widened in jubilation after the Ivorian goalkeeper Yahia Fofana dived to his left to save the shot.
But Kossounou failed to rein in his indiscipline and his afternoon ended just before half-time when he was given a second yellow card for another hack on Sinayoko and dismissed.
Belief
Down to 10 men, the hosts were down a goal 20 minutes from time when Nene Dorgeles sent a sumptuous shot past Fofana.
The mood inside and outside was anxious as time trickled away.
Cote d’Ivoire coach Emerse Faé – drafted into the job following the departure of Jean-Louis Gasset on 24 January – brought on Simon Adingra for Jean Michael Seri in the 86th minute.
“That’s not a good move,” said the sage ominously as he stood watching intently from behind an electric fan. “Seri Is a worker and other two midfielders [Seko Fofana and Frank Kessie] are just big."
The corrected Cassandra smiled wryly a few minutes later after Adringra prodded home the equalizer to spark dancing in the Bamboo Terrace.
Salvation
Oumar Diakhite’s winner in second-half stoppage-time of extra-time unleashed unallolyed joy in all the hotel bars and throughout the land. Malian players at the Stade de la Paix in Bouaké lay distraught on the turf, the coach Eric Chelle stood hollow faced.
“We’re going to win the cup,” said a jubilant Aidhera Komon. “I didn’t think we started playing until we went down to 10 men. When we equalized that's when I thought we would win."
Cote d'Ivoire will face Democratic Republic of Congo on 7 February at the Stade Alassane Outtara in Abidjan for a place in the final four days later.
"It's incredible," said Serge Koffi as he savoured the victory while the lithe and lissom gyrated in front of weapons-grade speakers.
"I'm proud of the team," added the 40-year-old who works for an educational trust in Abdijan.
"We scored in the last minutes against Senegal in the last-16 and we scored again late in the quarter-final. We must win the cup we are blessed."
The DRC and then either Nigeria or South Africa will have a say in that prophecy. But Koffi was in the full fervour of the faithful.
"Even when we went down to 10 men, I still believed," he beamed. "I trust my people. We are fighters. We are winners."
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