The Elephants of Coted’Ivoire defeated Super Eagles of Nigeria 2-1 in the final of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The Eagles surrendered a goal lead to the Ivorians at the Olympic stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan, on Sunday.
Nigeria conceded only two goals en route to the final but let in just as many goals against a rejuvenated Cote d’Ivoire side.
The Elephants were a different team from the earlier side that lost to the Eagles in the group stage and needed to wait till the final match of the group stage to qualify for the second round.
Jean-Louis Gasset was sacked as the team’s head coach, and Emerse Fae turned the country’s fortune around as an interim coach.
The period of despair had hardened the team’s belief in comebacks, and they did just that against Nigeria in the final match.
The Eagles took the lead in the first half through a towering header from William Troost-Ekong.
The Ivorians then equalised through a header of their own as Franck Kessie found himself free on the far side of the post.
Then Sebastien Haller completed the comeback for the host country, stabbing home a cross from Simon Adingra.
For most of the game, the Eagles struggled with coherence and creation of chances. The team had only one shot on target throughout the game.
The Elephants had clearer intentions to win the game, and they became the champions of Africa for the third time in their history.
