Elephants of Cote D’voire beat the Black Stars of Ghana 9-8 on penalties on Sunday to win the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
The game dragged through first and second halves and even extra time without producing a goal.
When the Elephants missed their first two kicks giving the Black Stars an early two goal lead, many Ivorian fans were at the verge of tears. A turn around that followed took the penalty shootout into the “sudden death” period.
Elephants goal tender Barry Copa became the hero of the Ivorian team, saving Stars goalkeeper Razak’s penalty kick while scoring his against the Ghana keeper for the last kick.
Super Eagles of Nigeria, the defending Champions could not qualify for the continental tournament from the group where South Africa and Congo advanced from.
This seems to be a repeat of the 1992 final of the competition where the Black stars lost to the Elephants through a penalty shootout.
