Ivory Coast has lifted the trophy at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Ivory Coast was thrilled to win the championship after displaying strong play-by-play tactics to dismiss its coach during the tournament.
Ivory Coast came from behind to beat Nigeria 2-1 in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final at Ebimpe Olympic Stadium in Ivory Coast on the 12th.
With this, Ivory Coast became the African Cup of Nations champion in nine years since 2015, and won its third career championship. Ivory Coast previously won the 1992 and 2015 tournaments. Nigeria, on the other hand, was blocked by the Ivory Coast wall, postponing its fourth career championship.
Ivory Coast faced a difficult situation by conceding the first goal 38 minutes into the first half. They started to drag themselves down 0-1 after giving up the score to Nigeria's Truist-Ekong.
Côte d'Ivoire, which finished the first half trailing 0-1, reorganized its battle lines as soon as the second half began to counterattack. Eventually, Frank Kessier scored the equalizer in the 17th minute of the second half to bring the game to 1-1 draw. Frank Kessier scored a header off a corner kick from Simon Adingla to cut Nigeria's net.
Côte d'Ivoire, which has been on the rise since the tie, continued to push Nigeria hard. In the end, Côte d'Ivoire scored an additional goal. In the 36th minute of the second half, Sebastian Alle shook Nigeria's net and succeeded in overturning the game 2-1. After receiving Adingra's pass, Sebastien Allega Adingra finished with a sensational non-stop shot with his right foot and tore Nigeria's net.
After the extra time of the second half, the match ended with Ivory Coast's 2-1 victory. Ivory Coast challenged to win the title by taking full advantage of the host country. The world's soccer community also noted Ivory Coast as one of the most promising contenders.
Ivory Coast got off to a good start with a 2-0 full victory in its first group match against Guinea-Bissau. It was similar to Korea's successful first group match against Bahrain at the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup.
However, Ivory Coast faced a shock elimination after kneeling 0-1 without crossing Nigeria in the second leg and losing 0-4 to Equatorial Guinea.
However, Côte d'Ivoire made a significant turnaround after Jean-Louis replaced the former coach due to poor performance. Côte d'Ivoire was almost eliminated, but managed to make it to the round of 16 by ranking fourth among the six third-place teams in the group.
Since then, Ivory Coast has played in the tournament under acting coach Emers Farr, but a difficult process awaits. In the round of 16, they met Senegal and were dragged down 0-1 until the 40th minute of the second half. Then, Kessier scored a dramatic equalizer in the 41st minute of the second half to lead the game to extra time. Eventually, they couldn't decide until the end of the 120th minute of extra time, and they advanced to the quarterfinals after a fierce shootout.
Ivory Coast met Mali in the quarterfinals. Against Mali, Ivory Coast did not show a great performance. In the end, it was trailing 0-1 and was shaken until the end of the 45th minute of the second half. Then, a hero appeared. Ivory Coast's Simone Adingra scored a truly dramatic equalizer in the 45th minute of the second half. Eventually, Umar Diakite scored the winning goal and roared.
Ivory Coast could have lost its stamina, but that didn't necessarily mean its performance was bad. Ivory Coast advanced to the final with a 1-0 victory over the Republic of Congo, an African surprise. Ivory Coast's final opponent was Nigeria, which had previously faced off in the group stage. Finally, it stood at the top of the podium, defeating Nigeria 2-1.
Its significance was all the more significant when Sebastian Alle, the winner of the World Cup, scored the finishing goal. Sebastian Alle is a striker who boasts a physique of 190 centimeters tall and weighs 82 kilograms. Born to a French father and a Ivory Coast mother, Alle grew up in France. He played for F.C.O.Büne and Brettony Foot and AJ Oseur before playing for AJ Oseur until the 2015 season. In the same year, he rented a club for FC Utrecht in the Netherlands. Since then, Alle has been playing for FC Utrecht from 2015 to 2017, Eintrecht in Germany from 2017 to 2019, West Ham United from 2019 to 2021, AFC Ajax in the Netherlands from 2021 to 2022, and Borussia Dortmund from 2022.
He was not invited to play for the French national team, but made the final decision in 2020 to join the Ivory Coast team. Afterwards, Ale made his A-match debut for Ivory Coast in a preliminary match against Madagascar at the Africa Cup of Nations in November 2020. Coincidentally, he scored his A match debut goal on the day of his A match debut, boasting extraordinary talent. He has never played in a World Cup stage yet. In the second qualifying match for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, he scored a penalty kick goal against Cameroon, the "powerhouse of Africa," and then scored a field goal to lead his team to a 2-1 victory. However, he was eliminated from the preliminary round due to the bitter taste of defeat in the match against Cameroon again.
Ale's biggest advantage is his high-altitude play based on his 190-centimeter-tall height. He never hesitates to engage in physical fights with defenders from the front line, and boasts a strong ability to control the air. Nevertheless, he is said to have good footwork. Above all, he is said to have good goal-getting ability that does not miss a critical opportunity. As his kick is very accurate, his team is mostly in charge of penalty kicks. He uses both his right and left feet skillfully. During the 2021-22 season, he garnered 34 goals and nine assists in 43 matches (41 starts) to become the Eredivisie scoring champion in the Netherlands. In addition, he was ranked 13th in the final ranking of the Ballon d'Or in 2022.
In July 2022, Ale began a lonely battle with testicular cancer. After undergoing two surgeries and four chemotherapy treatments, he was finally able to return to the ground by overcoming cancer. In the last 2022-23 season, he played in 22 games and performed well with nine goals and five assists. However, in this 2023-24 season, Dortmund recruited striker Niklas Pülkruk, and Ale's position has narrowed again.
Still, he scored the finisher in the Africa Cup of Nations and dedicated the trophy to his homeland of Ivory Coast. According to the British media BBC, Ale said after the victory, "We have dreamed of this moment so many times. We have waited for this moment to come. There was no easy match. We are watching the happy moment. Also, there is such a scene happening in Ivory Coast, and they deserve such joy. I hope this victory will have a positive impact on many people."
"The past year and a half has been a tough time for me and my family. When I think back to what happened over the past few months, just being in front of you right now is great. The doctor who treated me helped me not to be scared. He told me I could recover well, and I was happy to take his word," he continued. "Even after a big loss against Guinea, we had no choice. We came back a long way. It's clear that the public push us every moment. It makes a difference when they're there, screaming and pushing."
"Now I want to enjoy every moment as I take every step of the way. I don't want to regret it. It could take months or years to come to terms with everything that's happened over the years," Ale said.
In addition, William Truist Ekong, who scored three goals in total, won the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Most Valuable Player award. Adingra, who had two assists in the final match, won the Young Play Award. Equatorial Guinea striker Emilio Nsuh also scored five goals to become the top scorer. The goalkeeper award went to South Africa's goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. 토토사이트