Herve Renard wins his second trophy with Ivory Coast who have also won their second African Nations Cup trophy after winning 9-8 on penalities

 

Yaya Toure lifts the AFCON Trophy

Ivory Coast 9-8 Ghana

Ghana made to rue missed chances. They blew a two-goal lead!!! Penalities can go either way so its really hard luck. Ivory Coast are African champions. Their first since 1992. They have beaten Ghana again!!!!

Barry wins it for Ivory Coast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. A devastated bench. Gervinho celebrating like he played a part in the penalty!!!!

Razak Brimah misses his shot. Barry saves it!!! Ivory Coast are in a great position to win. Barry has to punish Brimah. Herve looks to have lightened up a little. If Barry scores the golden generation of the Ivory Coast would have arrived.

Dollar-kissing John Boye whips in a shot. Barry got the direction and a finger to it but power pays. Gervinho can't watch. Serey Die sends Brimah the wrong way.

Baba Rahman scores. Bailly - neat finish!!

Kolo Toure scores. Afful makes it 6-5. Kannon scores. It is 6-6 after 8 kicks apiece.

Barry touches Agyeman Badu's low shoot to the right. Relieve for Ghana. Agony for Ivory Coast

Jonathan Mensah scores.Kalou scores.

Doumbia pulls Ivory Coast level. Now it is do-or-die. Barry is injured. The Elephants are back in it. Ayew scores, Yaya Toure scores. Tensions are very high.

Penalties: Wakaso scores his penalty. Bony misses!!!! Jordan scores with all the coolness in the world. The shot was right through the center. Tallo misses. Ghana are in control of the shoot-out. Barry saves Acquah. Aurier scores the first Ivory Coast goal. Pressure shifts to Ghana. Frank Acheampong misses.

 

112' Nail-biting opportunities for both teams.  Ghana have a freekick from some 25 yards. Gyan fires into the wall. Knocks out Bailly.

109' Jordan shot buys off a corner from Kolo Toure. Uneventful

106' Great attempts by Gyan and Wakaso to find the net but the run runs into blocks.

105' Atsu has the last say but his shot goes wide. End of the first half of extra-time

103' Brimah has to be sharp enough to burst off his line to clear the shot before Doumbia could pounce on it.

101' Atsu's attempt to get on the end of a cross from the left has been frustrated by an Ivorian defender. Not the best game for Yaya Toure and Gyan. Chances are drying up. Players generally resigned. Any outburst of energy could win the day and Atsu has it.

96' Both teams taking more risk.  Kwesi Appiah is a near dead outlet for attack. Gervinho has disappeared from the game. Atsu has outlasted him in significance. Ghana enjoying nice possesion. Jordan Ayew comes on for Kwesi Appiah. Pretty fair substitution you would think.

93’ Baba Rahmann does well to stay on the ball well enough to cross into the box. He wins a corner from Sergie Aurier.

92’ Great Atsu skill as he hits a low volley inside the 18-yard box.

Ghana, Ivory Coast final has gone into extra-time. No golden goal. They will play 30 more minutes. Anything can happen. Tired legs out there

90+ Referee whistles for the end of the game. It goes into extra time. Finals can be boring and this game has better than boring.

89' Freekick for Bony. Nervous moments for Ghana. Brimah just pointed out a shot into Doumbia's path at close range but he couldn't steady himself well to stab in the ball.

88' Some great final possession for Ghana as a long ball to Kwesi Appiah is snuffed out.

88' A Wakaso-freekick misses the near post after a deflection. Wakaso is remonstrating, appealing for a corner but it is not given.

87' Ghana more patient in building up an attack. It is always the final ball in the offensive area that has been down letting as this one. But at least Ghana squeeze a freekick in a dangerous position.

80' John Boye needs some attention on the pitch after an aerial incident in the Ghana box. It is a finger in the eye. He walks off the pitch. The game inching to an end.

75’ 25-yards freekick for Ivory Coast sees the cross from the right punches out by Brimah. Several Orange shirts run into the box for a connection.

71' Great Atsu acceleration into the box to lose his marker, a short cut back into the box couldn't find Gyan in a great position to shoot. Average concentration or anticipation by Gyan sees a dangerous attack end without a shot at goal.

69’ Wakaso shot again quite far from distance. The lad wants to test Barry or simply break the deadlock on his own terms. This won’t be his last attempt at goal, that’s for sure.

68’ John Boye header bounces across the goal.

67’ Wakaso screams at seeing his attempt fly over the cross bar. Ghana could try shooting from range, you know? They have been trying to get into the box

66’ Did Ayew try too much with the ball after he runs into an Ivorian defence wall?

65’ First substitution. Doumbia coming on for Gradel

65’ The look on Herve Renre sums up an impression of an Ivorian attempt at goal.

58' Nice counter falls for Ivory Coast, the run is down the right, the cut back finds Gervinho but wonder Afful tackle to dispossess the winger

57' Headbutting between Boye and another Ivorian while the teams position for the freekick. Potential red card for each player. But the referee let's it go.

56' Tiene yellow-carded for shirt-pulling on a blazing Atsu run down the right.

56' Ivory Coast getting decent positions inside the box but like Ghana the final ball is the problem.

53' Lovely ball down the right finds Atsu. His pass finds Gyan but at the best positioning to hit it. He does and the shot is forgetable

51’ Right-wing freekick for Yaya Toure after he was brought down.

49’ Ghana buys off a corner at the right edge of the box. The corner is taken, the shot on the rebound is shameful.

47’ Three defenders round off Gervinho at the edge of the box.

Game resumes.

HT

 

When head butting goes wrong... Ivory Coasts' Bailly and Stars' Boye

44' Bony is in the box and snatches an attempt at goal but the technique on it is not great. The shot floats over the far post.

Kwesi Appiah, Gyan have not been bright spots in Ghana’s surge in the last 20 minutes. Ivory Coast will feel they have squandered their momentum early in the game

41’ Kwesi Appiah with a one-on-two situation after Barry’s clearance lands straight to Kwesi Appiah but slow thinking and the pass to find a teammate is picked out. Kwesi Appiah has punished poor defending before in the Guinea quarter-final clash

39’ Baba Rahman does excellently to fights Gervinho off the ball and shows great composure to clear the ball.

35’ Rahaman nice pass finds Ayew in a delightful acute angle just inside the box but he blasts it into the side net.

34’ Atsu’s threat on the left hits the side net.

32’ Sloppy passing is letting Ghana down. Afful miskick on the ball dropping into the box but Brimah is on hand to catch

31’ Foul for Ivory Coast

26’ Serey Die must be careful. He is on a yellow card and just brought down Atsu. Referee warns him.

25’ OMG!!!! Great Atsu thunderbolt sends panic into Ivory Coast’s defence. Rattles off the bar. Very near to the opener for Ghana against the run of play!!!!! Wow –signs of things to come. Best chance of the game -from almost nothing.

21’ An attempt to find Gyan inside the box didn’t work and allows Ivory Coast to counter using Gervinho. But his darting run on the bye line is stubbed out by Ghana defender.

23’Nice one-two between Bony and Gradel but the killer pass to find Bony is blocked.

18’ Ghana apply pressure using Andre Ayew. By pressure we mean get to the edge of the opposition’s 18-yard box. But a shot, even a terribly bad shot is yet to be fire.

16’ Poor defending, poor pass to a Ghana defender at the backline allows Gradel to pick the ball off Rahmann along the edge of the box. He rushes into the box but his shot is over the bar.

14’ Dangerous Ivorian foot into Wakaso’s thigh earns Serey Die a yellow card.

13’Good freekick but with no real direction that the keeper cannot deal with. Straight into Brimah’s arms.

12’ Tienne succumbs to the pitch after Wakaso blocks him unfairly at the edge of the box.

11’ Yaya Toure is muscled off the ball at the edge of the Ghana box. Imagine Afriyie Acquah doing this to the big man? Yaya Toure appealing for a freekick.

9’ Yaya Toure dropping corner is headed out easily. Ghana is yet to threaten Ivory Coast in any form.

5' Penalty appeal by Ivory Coast turned down. Ivory Coast making their presence felt. The Elephants playing as if they have been here before. Nervous start for Ghana.

3' Nobody really closing down Gervinho. He wins the first corner off Rahman. Corner is poor

1' Gervinho pushed the ball too far ahead of him allowing Brimah to rush out to kick it out no-nosense style.

That is Bata hours before the match but the situation is different now. The stadium is full to capacity now hopefully with sane supporters

Line Ups

Ivory Coast XI:                                                                Ghana XI: 

Barry,                                                                                 Brimah,

Kolo Toure,                                                                        Afful,

Tiene,                                                                                Rahman

Gervinho,                                                                           Mensah

Bony,                                                                                 Boye,

Gradel,                                                                               Wakaso,

Aurier,                                                                                 Acquah,

Yaya Toure,                                                                         Atsu,

Gonzaroua Die,                                                                   Ayew

Bailly,                                                                                  Appiah

Kanon                                                                                  Gyan

Courtesy Caf, that is the tournament statistics for both teams ahead of the dream final.

Security

With the shameful drama of crowd hooliganism that characterized the semi-final clash between Ghana and the host nation at the Estadio de Malabo, security has been beefed up ahead of the final clash in Bata. 

Welcome to Myjoyonline.com’s coverage of AFCON 2015 final. Ghana and Ivory Coast meet in a glorious final with each side itching to end decades of trophy drought. For Ghana it is 33 years and for Ivory Coast it is 23 years. Whatever the case may be one of the sides will be crowned winners in what is expected to be a high-octane cliffhanger at the Estadio de Bata in Equatorial Guinea.