Sport
Africa cup of Nations 2012 Update: Ivory Coast advance to semis
A little financial incentive also helped. Before the opening match, the son of the country’s longtime president offered the team a US$1 million bonus for beating Libya and a US$20,000 jackpot to each goalscorer.
Equatorial Guinea duly obliged, with Javier-Angel Balboa hitting the jackpot with a calm finish in the 87th-minute to snatch a 1-0 win.
Better was yet to come as Equatorial Guinea continued to follow its simple tactic of defending deep and breaking quickly to stun Senegal, one of the pre-tournament favorites, in one of the most exciting matches of the tournament so far.
Iyanga gave Equatorial Guinea the lead in the 62nd minute, but a draw looked the most likely result when Moussa Sow equalized in the 89th.
Defender David Alvarez then scored one of the goals of the tournament with a scorching long-distance winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time to send the crowd wild, seal a quarterfinal place and eliminate the shocked Senegalese.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Alvarez said. “When the ball came to me I was just thinking about controlling it well and getting a shot in. I didn’t even see the ball hit the net, I just turned round to celebrate because I knew it was going in. You’re just filled with all this rage and joy.”
For a moment, Equatorial Guinea looked like frustrating Ivory Coast’s star-peppered squad in the quarterfinal when Clementino saved Drogba’s 29th-minute penalty.
But Drogba showed his class by making amends with the opening goal following a defensive error seven minutes later and scored a bullet header in the second half to pull the cup favorite clear. Yaya Toure sealed the win with a late free kick into the top corner.
