AFCON: Nigeria stun favourites Ivory Coast

NIGERIA delivered a hammer blow to Ivory Coast at the African Nations Cup on Sunday, knocking out the favourites 2-1 in the quarter-finals to leave the tournament wide open.

Sunday Mba's mazy run set up a dramatic winner 12 minutes from time, sending the Ivorians home empty-handed yet again after another in which they failed to deliver.

Mba, based in the obscurity of the Nigerian league, was allowed to weave his way close to the edge of the Ivorian penalty area before hitting a shot that deflected off Souleman Bamba and looped over goalkeeper Boubacar Barry.

The goal ensured the match would not go into extra time which both teams looked to have settled for. 

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Nigeria's Sunday Mba is held aloft by Victor Moses after scoring the winning goal

Emmanuel Emenike gave Nigeria a deserved halftime lead with a rasping free kick which Barry tied to punch but completely missed.

The goal came two minutes from halftime and broke the deadlock in a game that offered few chances early on.

The Ivorians left the field bickering among themselves, with the referee and with their opponents but were suddenly a much more committed force in the second half, moving immediately into attack.

It took just five minutes for Cheick Tiote to equalise, heading home unmarked at the back post from Didier Drogba's free kick.

Then followed more dominance from the Ivorians with a blistering shot from Yaya Toure forcing a save out of Nigeria's Vincent Enyeama in the 67th minute.

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 Didier Drogba is hugged by his former Chelsea teammate John Obi Mikel at the end of the match

But Drogba, Gervinho and Toure proved largely ineffective against a Nigerian side whose coach Stephen Keshi had previously warned were far from the finished product.

"We had a 20 percent chance but my boys showed character and this is the character I know that Nigeria have," Keshi told reporters.

Defeat effectively ended the chances of Drogba and other senior Ivorian players winning Africa's top club prize to add to their achievements on the world stage at club level.

Nigeria will play Mali in Wednesday's semi-final in Durban.

Pitroipa sends Burkina Faso into last four

Burkina Faso reached the semi-finals of the African Nations Cup for the first since 1998 when Jonathan Pitroipa produced the one moment of true class to head home an extra-time winner in a 1-0 victory over fellow outsiders Togo on Sunday.

Pitroipa pulled away from his marker in the last seconds of the first period of extra time to head Charles Kabore's corner in off the underside of the bar to send Burkina Faso through to a meeting with Ghana back in Nelspruit on Wednesday.

The match, on the hard, sandy pitch at the Mbombela Stadium, seemed destined to go to penalties after 90 minutes of largely uninspiring football, although both sides did have chances to win it in the closing minutes of normal time.

Togo's talismanic skipper Emmanuel Adebayor worked tirelessly for his side, who had never reached this stage in seven previous attempts, but he was unable to find the net with one effort cleared off the line and another well saved by Burkina goalkeeper Daouda Diakite.

Burkina's Belgian coach Paul Put dedicated the victory to the country's president Blaise Compaore who was celebrating his 62nd birthday, adding: "This is like a never-ending story. We are very happy and very proud.

"The pitch is hard and the conditions are difficult but it is like our home pitch now and I am looking forward to meeting Ghana in the semi-final.

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Jonathan Pitroipa celebrates his goal that eliminated Togo at the Mbombela Stadium

"I don't have a crystal ball and cannot tell you what will happen but our objective was to reach the semi-finals and we have done that, and I am the happiest coach at this tournament."

Togo coach Didier Six was naturally disappointed at the result but praised his players for making it this far.

"If you make it into the quarter-finals you deserve to be there and this was a historic qualification for Togo as they have never been to this stage before," he told reporters.

"Overall, this has been a very good tournament for us. Togo has a lot of quality, a lot of good young players and a bright future ahead of them and I am very proud of my players tonight."

But while there some clever individual skills on display, the match itself was a poor one, littered by 53 fouls and with only seven attempts on target during the 120 minutes.

Whether it was the sandy pitch or the rarefied atmosphere of reaching the quarter-finals, both sides took time to settle but after a poor first half the match improved as a spectacle but there was still a lack of real quality in front of goal.

Rampaging run

Burkina Faso, missing injured in-form striker Alain Traore who scored two superb goals in the 4-0 win over Ethiopia in the group stage, rarely worried Togo keeper Kossi Agassa, while Togo's forwards were also way off target.

Floyd Ayite missed Togo's best chance early chance, failing to connect with a mis-kick after 18 minutes.

Adebayor, a regular scorer in the Premier League over the years, was playing far deeper for Togo in the first half at least but even he struggled on the pitch he described as "a disgrace to the African continent" before the kickoff.

Playing in a more advanced role from the start of the second half though, he came close to opening the scoring in the 47th minute when Ayite surged forwards deep into Burkinabe territory before crossing wide to Serge Gapke.

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Burkina Faso's coach Paul Put celebrates his team advancing to the semifinals

Adebayor, anticipating Gapke's cross, outjumped two defenders and goalkeeper Diakite but although he did not get a clean header to the cross, the ball came off his back and was bouncing into the goal only for defender Mady Panandetiguiri to hook it clear just before it crossed the line.

Prince Segbefia, who replaced Ayite after 67 minutes, had a good chance to put Togo ahead six minutes later when the ball bounced perfectly into his path 10 metres out but he blasted it over.

The next opportunity was for Adebayor who went on a rampaging run in the 78th minute, evading a tackle, but Diakite made a good save from his angled drive.

Burkina substitute Prejuce Nakoulma then had a real chance to save everyone from another half-an-hour but over-elaborated on a jinking run through the defence towards Togo's goal and wasted his chance with a weak shot which Agassa blocked.

Finally Pitroipa, with his second goal of the tournament, did break the deadlock and set up a second all-west African semi-final after Nigeria beat Ivory Coast to book a date with Mali that will be played in Durban on the same night.

Reuters