Ivory Coast’s best moment of international football was during the 1992 African Cup of Nations in Senegal, where they won the trophy on penalties against an Abedi Pele-less Ghanaian side and an amazing Alain Gouamene. They never managed to get the tournament-winning alchemy since then, though, and the clock seems to be running out for this generation.
Nigeria became the first African team to win Olympic Gold in Atlanta in 1996. This feat was achieved by the ‘Golden Generation’, which included Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Uche Okechukwu, Daniel Amokachi and Emmanuel Amuneke.
# Nigeria has won the Nations Cup twice while Cote d’Ivoire has won it once.
# Didier Drogba has scored 60 goals for Cote d’Ivoire.
# Joseph Yobo has now been capped by Nigeria 90 times.
# Didier Zokora (pictured) is the most capped Elephant with 109 caps.
# Nigeria will be hoping to make it a 10th semi-final appearance in 17 outings.
# Cote d’Ivoire is the first national team coaching job for 44-year old Sabri Lamouchi.
Read also:
http://en.africatopsports.com/2013/02/01/afcon-2013-ahmed-musa-absent-from-training/