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Star-Studded Ivory Coast, Ghana Favored to Make ACN Cup Final
Mark Walsh | February 07, 2012

Zambia’s Chisamba Lungu and his teammates face Ghana today in their African Cup of Nations semifinal match. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) Zambia’s Chisamba Lungu and his teammates face Ghana today in their African Cup of Nations semifinal match. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
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Bata, Equatorial Guinea. Ivory Coast and Ghana are on course to meet in a showpiece final at the African Cup of Nations, with only semifinal opponents Mali and Zambia able to prevent the eagerly awaited showdown.

Ivory Coast’s star-studded squad has won all four matches without conceding a goal in its quest for a first cup success in 20 years, while Ghana, the losing finalist two years ago, is looking for a fifth title.

Ghana must first beat Zambia, which has enjoyed an impressive campaign so far and is motivated to make the final in Libreville in memory of 25 players and officials who died in a plane crash near the Gabonese capital 19 years ago.

Ivory Coast’s opponent, Mali, is bidding to reach its first final after having beaten co-host Gabon on penalties in the quarterfinals.

Despite scoring eight goals without reply, Ivory Coast has so far failed to find the quality performances expected of Africa’s top-ranked team that contains some of the world’s best players.

Led by English Premier League-based stars like captain Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Gervinho, the cup favorite is expected to hit top gear at some stage with the gifted generation of players aiming to finally claim international success.

“The most important thing is to go through because we have failed three times in this competition,” said Toure, referring to a runner-up finish in 2006, fourth place in 2008 and a disappointing quarterfinal exit in 2010. “We have fantastic players and fantastic strikers, but we have to fight to win this competition.”

Mali stands in the way of Ivory Coast’s progression to the final after talismanic midfielder Seydou Keita scored the decisive penalty in the quarterfinal shootout following a 1-1 draw with Gabon.

The Malians fell behind against the favored co-host, but they refused to surrender and scored a late equalizer to set up extra time. Penalties followed, and all five Mali spot kicks hit the back of the net.

That performance suggested the West African side coped well with the underdog tag.

Ghana’s clash with Zambia is tinged with sadness after midfielder Anthony Annan’s mother died last Thursday. Despite the bereavement, Annan decided to stay to help the squad try to win the tournament for the first time since 1982.

“Winning the title would serve as a big honor in memory of my mother,” he said.

Zambia also has special reason to make Sunday’s final in Libreville, the city where it lost a generation of players when their plane plunged into the ocean, killing everyone on board.

In that 1993 crash, Zambia lost probably its best team in its worst sporting disaster, with 18 players and seven officials dying.

“We don’t have any pressure. We want to beat Ghana to get to the final,” said coach Herve Renard, who wears a lucky white shirt to all his team’s games. “Everybody expects an Ivory Coast-Ghana final and everybody thinks it will be a surprise if we get through, everybody except us. We are not afraid of Ghana.”

Associated Press