PAYNESVILLE, Montserrado – Ivory Coast’s U-20 team is taking nothing for granted in the ongoing West African Football Union U-20 Nations Cup hosted in Liberia, as the Baby Elephants became the first team to reach the tournament’s semifinals.
With a game left to play in Group A, the Baby Elephants reached the semifinals in style with an impressive 4-1 win over Sierra Leone on Thursday, April 26 at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex.
Fresh from beating host Liberia 3-0 on the opening day of the tournament, the Ivorians were again ruthless in their attack as they scored three goals in the last 13 minutes of the match to sink the Sierra Leoneans.
Unlike the match against Liberia where they failed to score in the first half, the Ivorians made known their intention of getting the three points in the 39th minute when they got the curtain raiser. Yalalif Diabate scored from a close range after making his way through the Sierra Leonean defense to beat Sylvanus Parkins in goal.
Sierra Leone’s beautiful football display on the opening day of the tournament in their 2-1 win against Guinea Bissau gave fans hope of the Shooting Stars turning things around before the end of the match. The one goal conceded against Ivory Coast didn’t stop them from playing their usual attacking football as they kept pressing for the equalizer. Unfortunately for the Stars, they were unable to get a single ball at the back of the Ivorian net in the first period of the match as they went for the first half break down by a goal.
Sierra Leone’s equalizer came in the 73rd minute through their captain, Julius Goba. Goba brought back his country’s hope of earning at least a point from the match.
Matters got worse for the Ivorians when their defensive midfielder, Abul Miaga, was sent out for tackling Ahmed Vandi. Playing with 10 players against an 11-men Sierra Leone, the chances of Ivory Coast getting a win seemed impossible while Sierra Leone looked confident with the one-man advantage.
However, Ivory Coast remained calm and played their normal game while searching for a goal to take the lead again. The score remained leveled until the 80th minute when it appeared that the points would be shared. However, the Baby Elephants proved their supremacy by scoring three goals in the last five minutes plus stoppage time to claim the three points.
Substitute Ousan Diakita gave the Ivorians the lead in the 85th minute before center-defender, Braciano Wolly scored three minutes later to make the score 3-1. The match was finally laid to rest in the second minute of the three minutes added time when Joel Bertin capitalized on a defensive error to get the ball at the back of Sierra Leone’s net.
Two games, two wins, seven goals scored and conceding a goal only once, the Ivorians booked their place in the semifinals ahead of the final group games. They’ll be looking for a win in their last match against Guinea Bissau to finish as group winners.
A defeat for the Ivorians and a win for either Sierra Leone or Liberia on the final day of the group games will see them finishing second in Group A. They currently lead Group A with six points, three ahead of second and third place Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Featured photo by T. Kla Wesley Jr.