AFCON SPOTLIGHT: Sloppy Ivory Coast Held By Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone fights back against Ivory Coast in four goal thriller
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By @jehoshua-shey
Jan 17, 2022
If there was any lesson learnt on Sunday, Jan 16, 2022, it's that the value of opportunities wasted is in the price. The Ivorians had to learned this the hard way as they lost their lead twice in what was a highly spirited fight-back from Sierra Leone.
While some might argue that Sierra Leone were beneficiaries of a lucky mishap, one has to say that they earned it on the day thanks in no small measure to the wastefulness of their opponents on the night - Ivory Coast.
Sebastien Haller had opened scoring for the Ivorians after a missed penalty in the 25th minute. Kamara levelled for Sierra Leone early in the first half to set up the encounter for a grand finish.
Nicolas Pepe put the Elephants back in front as the Ivorians looked to kill the game. The Ivorians coach rang a host of changes as he look to inject fresh legs in the attacking department to inflict more misery on Sierra Leone.
On came G. Serey Die, C. Kouame, H. Traore, O. Kossounou, and J. Kouassi before the end of regulation time. Ivory Coast made a plethora of misses in the closing stages and were made to pay dearly when Keeper Sangaree spilled a back pass to serve Sierra Leone am equalizing opportunity on a platter.
Kamara wasted no chance though he slipped as he was able to meet Caulkers square ball in stoppage time to ensure that Ivory Coast officially had a bad day.
Not only did the Ivorian keeper spill, he managed to get himself badly injured that Tottenham star Serge Aurier had to complete the match in goal as Ivory Coast had exhausted their five substitution.
The draw brought a lot of joy and excitement to Sierra Leone who have now managed to take a point from both Algeria and Ivory Coast in a group that they were fancied to be battered by two of the competition's recent champions.
Ivory Coast will return to nurse their wounds and their wounded as they now need to avoid defeat against Algeria in their final match to ensure passage and hope Equitorial Guinea does same against Sierra Leone.
FINAL SCORES
IVORY COAST 2 - 2 SIERRA LEONE
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