Ghana oust Nigeria, Ivory Coast hit five to reach semis
As the tournament continued to throw up goals and drama in equal measure, Junior Agogo scored an 82nd-minute winner for the hosts to stun the disappointing Super Eagles.
Salomon Kalou scored twice and his Chelsea team mate Didier Drogba also hit the target for Ivory Coast after they had toiled for 70 minutes against Guinea.
Ghana will face Cameroon or Tunisia in Thursday’s semi-final in Accra while Ivory Coast will play Egypt or Angola in Kumasi.
Ghana’s win sent thousands of fans out onto the streets of Accra to celebrate, some carrying replica coffins covered in the green and white of Nigeria.
“It’s a fantastic team effort, they are really 11 heroes,” said Ghana coach Claude Le Roy, who criticised the second-half sending off of defender John Mensah for a professional foul on Peter Odemwingie.
“John did not make a single mistake in the game and I have seen players not sent off for professional fouls much worse than that,” he said.
Nigeria coach Berti Vogts, whose team managed only three goals and failed to reach the last four for the first time in five Nations Cup tournaments, said: “We made one or two mistakes and that is not allowed in international football.
“I’m very disappointed.”
Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Ike Uche wasted good early changes for Nigeria while Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan blasted a powerful drive against the post after a stunning piece of control.
Nigeria went ahead in the 35th minute when Yakubu was pulled down by Eric Addo with a rugby-style tackle. He took the penalty himself and made no mistake as he scored into the bottom left-hand corner.
Michael Essien headed Ghana level in first-half injury-time, the ball hitting the inside of the post and trickling in, but the game swung back in Nigeria’s favour when Mensah was dismissed for tripping goalbound Odemwingie on the hour.
However, Nigeria never made the advantage count and with eight minutes left, Agogo, who plays for Nottingham Forest in the English third division, tapped in from close range after Sulley Muntari had squeezed a pass through the Nigeria defence.
In Sekondi, Abdelkader Keita gave Ivory Coast a 25th minute lead when he pounced on a defensive mistake to score with a shot which slipped between out-of-position goalkeeper Kemoko Camara and the near post.
The Olympique Lyon player celebrated with a double somersault and by aggressively kicking over a giant inflatable soft drinks can.
Camara, currently club-less, atoned with world class saves to deny Drogba and Aruna Dindane before halftime.
Guinea dominated the opening of the second half but capitulated after Drogba scored a clinically taken second in the 70th minute. Kalou added two more, the first from Drogba’s pass, and Bakary Kone fired in the fifth.—Reuters