By Afolabi Adetunji Lagos, Nigeria.
Ivory Coast held to second AFCON draw as Morocco defeated Togo in Group C.
The match between Ivory Coast and DR Congo ended in a 2-2 draw Lastnight,This is the second straight stalemate for Ivory Coast in this competition as one of the teams in Group C.
DR Congo led twice during an impressive first-half performance, but Wilfried Bony and Serey Die respectively scored to bring team back on level terms. Ivory Coast worked the ball round the pitch in the second half of the game and they almost secured a winner late on but had to settle for another draw.
Senegal by some football expert is one of the favorite teams to win the African Cup of Nations
Following the win over Zimbabwe, Cheikhou Kouyate the senegal central midfielder who plays for West Ham in England said he believes Senegal’s impressive displays at the African Nations Cup shown that the team has grown up and stopped “whining like children.”
Senegal had not exceeded beyond the group stage of the tournament since 2006 despite expectations of success sparked by the talent at their disposal.
Liverpool striker Sadio Mane scored his second goal in two group games in the 2-0 win over Zimbabwe on Thursday as Senegal ended their decade-long wait for a place in the knockout stages.
And having opened the competition with a 2-0 win over Tunisia, Senegal National Football team coache Aliou Cisse who was previously an assistant and recently coach of Senegal appears to be living up to their billing as one of the favourites to win the AFCON.
West Ham Midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate said: “We’d been crying like children for 10 years. This year, we’ve decided to come here and show that Senegal has grown, that this generation wants to write the history of Senegalese football.The hardest bit is to come. The start was to try and get out of the group. We’re not going to stop now, and we’ll do everything to make the Senegalese people happy.”
Senegal, who are assured of finishing top of Group B, play a final group game against Algeria on Jan. 23 before heading into their quarterfinal tie five days later.