ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Host country Ivory Coast is writing Hollywood scripts at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The team has been implausibly avoiding elimination again and again in the tournament and now, somehow, the Elephants have made it to the semifinals.
The players held their heads after the latest incredible escape as if they couldn’t believe it, either.
“This evening was magnificent, magnificent,” Ivory Coast captain Serge Aurier said after Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Mali. “It’s really what we wanted to do – not the emotional roller coaster like that. But that‘s what makes football, and that’s what makes the beauty of this Africa Cup right from the start.”
Ivory Coast was all but eliminated after a 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in the group stage, its second straight after a loss to Nigeria. The Ivorian federation fired its coach as the country wallowed in disappointment.
After scraping through to the knockout stage thanks to a Morocco win over Zambia in another group, Ivory Coast tried unsuccessfully to hire another coach for the remainder of the competition.
Next up was defending champion Senegal, arguably the strongest team in the tournament.
Ivory Coast soccer fans celebrate on a street in Bouake, Ivory Coast after Ivory Coast won the African Cup of Nations quarter final soccer match against Mali, at the Peace of Bouake stadium in Bouake, Ivory Coast, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. Credit: AP/Sunday Alamba
Senegal scored in the fourth minute and appeared set to eliminate Ivory Coast until Franck Kessié scored a penalty in the 86th minute to send the game to extra time. Kessié then scored the winning penalty in the shootout to give Ivory Coast a place in the quarterfinals.
That late drama was surpassed in the next game against Mali on Saturday, when Ivory Coast had a player sent off and was down a goal after Nene Dorgeles’ brilliant strike for the Eagles in the 71st.
But Simon Adingra’s last-minute equalizer sent the game to extra time,…
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