Mali will rue their inability to finish Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals of the 2023 AFCON when they had every opportunity to devour the elephants.
In a fierce affair at the Stade de la Paix on Bouake, Adama Traore missed a 16th-minute penalty for Mali after Odilon Kossounou was adjudged to have brought down his opponent in the 18-yard box.
With 2 minutes to end the first half, Odilon Kossounou received a second yellow card and was subsequently sent off. Mali had a huge advantage as they would be playing the rest of the game with a man’s advantage.
Dorgeles Nene struck in the 71st minute to put the Eagles of Mali ahead. With a goal ahead and a man advantage, Mali couldn’t kill the Elephants as Simon Adingra equalised in the 90th minute for Ivory Coast.
Ten-man Ivory Coast went ahead and a strike in the last minute of the extra time to win 2-1.
Cameras captured one of Mali’s coaching staff pouring water on Mali’s head coach Eric Chelle’s head.
“After the Elephants’ second goal, I started to feel dizzy, my blood pressure was rising,” revealed Chelle.
Many people were wondering why water was poured on Chelle’s head after Oumar Diakite’s late goal.
“I thank my compatriot who poured enough water on my head to stabilize my blood pressure”, added Eric Chelle.
Ivory Coast went ahead to win the 2023 AFCON after beating Nigeria 2-1 on Sunday.
