| Cote d’Ivoire reserves too strong for Angola’s side | Send to a friend |
| Tuesday, 31 January 2012 22:52 |
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Co-title favourites Cote d’Ivoire collected a maximum nine points wihout ever going into overdrive, Sudan and Angola secured four each and Burkina Faso came last after three consecutive losses. The Ivorians remain in this island city to tackle co-hosts Equatorial Guinea next Saturday while Sudan face Zambia earlier the same day in Bata in the first quarter-final. Cote d’Ivoire coach Francois Zahoui, while relieved to see his side progress, said: "The real relief will be to win the title. We'll keep our feet on the ground. I'll be happy when we have achieved our aim of bringing pleasure to the Ivorian people. "We want to make it to the end, otherwise a couple of wins doesn't mean anything." Angola manager Jose 'Lito' Vidigal reflected: "It was really difficult and we worked very hard to go through. We had lots of problems to qualify for this Nations Cup, but I'd like to thank all our fans. "We were up against a very strong Cote d’Ivoire side who are going to go far in this tournament." Zahoui had hinted that he would rest some of his first choices -- but leaving nine on the bench came as a surprise with the only regulars in the starting line-up being centre-backs Kolo Toure and Souleymane Bamba. Kolo Toure, older brother of 2011 African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure, captained the team in the absence of Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou was grateful for the rest after limping off against Burkina Faso last Friday. (Agencies) Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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