We’ll leave you with this …
IVORY COAST WIN THE 2015 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS
What an amazing way to finish it. They could not be separated after 90 minutes. They could not be separated after an additional 30. The regular five penalties could not separate them either and it went all the way to the goalkeepers in sudden death. Braimah had his saved by Barry, who then stepped up to score the deciding kick.
Congratulations to Ivory Coast, who are now celebrating wildly awaiting the trophy; commiserations to Ghana, who will no doubt be very proud of their impressive efforts though it may take some time for the feeling of sadness to evaporate. I’m off to enter a dark room. Thanks for reading.
Updated
Penalties: Ghana 8-9 Ivory Coast
And Barry scores!!!!! IVORY COAST ARE 2015 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS CHAMPIONS
This is ridiculous. Barry is down and now getting treatment. There is plenty of magic spray on his wrist but it’s his foot which will decide Ivory Coast’s destiny.
Penalties: Ghana 8-8 Ivory Coast
Braimah does not look confident and Barry dives to save it. The Ivory Coast keeper sinks to his knees – but he must get up, the destination of the title depends on his penalty kick!
Penalties: Ghana 8-8 Ivory Coast
Serey Die the last outfield player to take a kick … Low and in. Time for the keepers …
Updated
Penalties: Ghana 8-7 Ivory Coast
Round 10! John Boye looks nervous and he just evades Barry’s dive to score …
Penalties: Ghana 7-7 Ivory Coast
Bailly with a beauty. And we go again!
Updated
Penalties: Ghana 7-6 Ivory Coast
Baba now … bottom right corner. Easy.
Penalties: Ghana 6-6 Ivory Coast
Kanon, another defender, puts a couple of the attacking players to shame by also finding the net!
Penalties: Ghana 6-5 Ivory Coast
Afful is the eighth Ghanain to take a penalty and that’s the best of the lot: high into the top right corner. The tension is becoming unbearable now.
Penalties: Ghana 5-5 Ivory Coast
Kolo Toure, who missed three years ago, goes for power and scores this time. We’re going to be here all night!
Penalties: Ghana 5-4 Ivory Coast
Badou now for Ghana and it creeps past Barry, who dived the right way. Oof, inches away.
Updated
Penalties: Ghana 4-4 Ivory Coast
Kalou steps up now. No fuss, sends Braimah the wrong way.
Penalties: Ghana 4-3 Ivory Coast
Mensah takes Ghana’s sixth penalty. He slips as he connects with the ball but finds the top right corner.
Updated
Penalties: Ghana 3-3 Ivory Coast
It could all come down to this. Yaya Toure steps up … and confidently finds the net. Sudden death.
Penalties: Ghana 3-2 Ivory Coast
Andre Ayew steps up now and fires it low past Barry.
Penalties: Ghana 2-2 Ivory Coast
Doumbia levels it with a piledriver! What drama.
Penalties: Ghana 2-1 Ivory Coast
Good grief! Ghana’s Acheampong, who was on the pitch four minutes before the end, slices a left-footed attempt so, so far wide. Unbelievable!
Penalties: Ghana 2-1 Ivory Coast
Serge Aurier, who has been Ivory Coast’s star man tonight, strikes a beauty high into the left corner.
Penalties: Ghana 2-0 Ivory Coast
Or maybe not! Acquah is denied by Barry. A good save to the keeper’s right.
Penalties: Ghana 2-0 Ivory Coast
Tallo, who did not touch the ball having come on in the final seconds of extra-time, steps up and puts it at least a foot wide. A dreadful kick and Ghana must believe it’s now their day.
Penalties: Ghana 2-0 Ivory Coast
Jordan Ayew steps up for Ghana’s second kick. He takes a cool run-up and finds the net.
Penalties: Ghana 1-0 Ivory Coast
Wilfried Bony steps up and he crashes it off the bar. Oh dear. Visions of the 2012 final, anybody?
Penalties: Ghana 1-0 Ivory Coast
Mubarak to take the first kick for Ghana … Left-footed he scores as Barry dives early to his left and the midfielder sends it the opposite way.
FULL-TIME, EXTRA-TIME: Ivory Coast 0-0 Ghana
Let’s roll out the lottery cliches! Nothing separates them after 120 energy-sapping minutes and the Africa Cup of Nations will be decided by penalties.
Updated
120 +1min: Ghana sub as Badou comes on for Gyan – who must suffer nightmares after that penalty miss in the World Cup in 2010 – and for the Ivory Coast Tallo replaces Gervinho – who has a similarly shaky record from the sport.
120 min: Aurier feeds Kalou, who cuts across goal but there’s no Ivorian on hand to have a shot.
117 min: I can’t remember the last time there was some decent football played. It’s been pass, pass, foul or pass, pass, dispossessed for too long. Who reckons they may not even be able to convert a penalty?!
116 min: Acheampong replaces an exhausted Atsu.
Updated
114 min: An impromptu water break now. Even the ref is sneaking a quick gulp of water.
112 min: Salomon Kalou is coming on in place of Tiene after the defender brings down Jordan Ayew, who has been very lively since coming on. Ghana free-kick to come after the substitution is made.
110 min: Jordan Ayew fools Yaya Toure in the area and from a tight angle tries to shoot but Kolo Toure blocks. Another Ghana corner to come.
108 min: Gervinho bursts down the left in a rare show of high energy and crosses towards Doumbia but the striker’s touch is dismal and he cannot manage a shot from a very promising position.
106 min: Promising start from Ghana. Mubarak attacks and his ferocious shot from 25 yards is blocked by Tiene. Corner … which is too deep and produces nothing.
Back underway!
A swift turnaround and we have restarted.
HALF-TIME, EXTRA-TIME: Ivory Coast 0-0 Ghana
Who’s your money on in a shootout?
105 +1min: Eric Bailly is the fourth Ivory Coast player to be shown a yellow card for a clumsy tackle from behind on the fresh-legged Jordan Ayew.
105 min: Yaya Toure’s delivery is taken by Braimah.
104 min: An Aurier cross from the right towards Bony is cleared wildly by Mensah. Ivory Coast have a corner.
102 min: Andre Ayew swings a cross in which bounces 10 yards from goal but nobody is on hand to convert or clear and it bounces away from trouble. Atsu has pulled up, likely with cramp.
100 min: Appiah’s Cup of Nations is over – he is replaced by Jordan Ayew, which is Ghana’s first change.
99 min: Acquah tries to make a splash (sorry!) with a pot shot from 30 yards but it sails well over.
96 min: Atsu strings a tasty pass towards Gyan but he is very narrowly offside.
94 min: We have now passed the 40 foul mark. How many shots on target? One. From Yaya Toure in the first half.
93 min: Baba finds a burst of energy and dribbles down the left but Aurier makes a wonderful diving block. Ghana corner.
92 min: Ivory Coast passing it around midfield but the message remains from normal time: do not make a mistake.
First-half of extra-time is go
Ivory Coast kick-off. Just watching it is making me sweaty. The players’ shirts are clinging to them, so little wonder the tempo of the game died as the second period progressed.
FULL-TIME! Ivory Coast 0-0 Ghana
Extra-time to follow after a tense scoreless draw.The first half was decent but this second 45 has been dreadful.
90 +3min: One more chance? Yaya Toure gives away another foul, sliding in on Mubarak. He wins some of the ball but also takes the man. The free is taken short and then hoofed aimlessly forward and is cleared. Awful.
Updated
90 min: There will be three minutes added on. And then 30 more minutes of extra-time, inevitably!
90 min: Aurier has been Ivory Coast’s biggest threat and down the right he sends it in but Braimah is there to block and Doumbia cannot convert the rebound under pressure from Mensah. Aurier puts in another cross from the right seconds later. Braimah comes to save but it slips through his hands. He’s relived to watch it fall kindly and the danger is cleared.
88 min: Mubarak takes it. It takes two deflections – off Tiene and Bailly – and goes out for what should be a corner … but for some reason, despite Mubarak’s protestations, it’s a goal-kick.
87 min: Kanon is booked for a foul on Acquah about 20 yards out. Could this be it?
85 min: Defensively they have both been quite solid for the most part but the tempo is dropping substantially as we enter the final minutes. The heat and occasion has drained them. Penalties, anyone?
82 min: Tiene crosses from the left and Bony rises at the back post but heads over. He wants a corner but it’s a goal-kick. Mensah accidentally clocked his defensive partner Boye in the face as the ball was coming towards Bony.
80 min: Play restarts and it’s switched to the right flank. Aurier attempts to find Doumbia but it’s behind the striker and it’s cleared. Then Yaya Toure takes control and is … fouled.
78 min: Mubarak trips Gervinho who was about to turn him and race forward. No booking but another free-kick in the centre of the pitch. Groundhog Day.
77 min: Aurier gets in behind Ayew and crosses back towards Bony but the linesman’s flag is raised to signal the ball had cross the line before Aurier could cross. Goal-kick for Ghana.
76 min: Toure does not take this one. He leaves it for Tiene who curls it teasingly in but Braimah is confidently alert enough to step a couple of yards out and punch clear.
74 min: Yaya Toure is really good at drawing in fouls. Appiah is the culprit this time. It’s a slightly soft free-kick but Toure’s positioning made it easier for the referee to give the free-kick a little over 25 yards from goal.
72 min: Ghana are going closer and closer here. Atsu zooms down the right and cuts it in towards Appiah and Gyan but the pass is just behind their reach and the danger is cleared.
71 min: Another foul from Ivory Coast – their 17th of the game compared to nine from Ghana. Mubarak’s delivery is heading towards Boye but Bailly gets his head to it.
70 min: Mubarak, under very little pressure, lashes it into the stands from 30 yards. Poor.
68 min: Serey Die is penalised for handball near halfway. Mubarak takes it and hits it towards the penalty spot, where Boye heads narrowly wide under pressure from Kolo Toure. In a second half so far bereft of good chances, that was a decent one
67 min: The first shuffle of the pack as Doumbia replaces Gradel.
66 min: Tiene sends a rubbish cross in from the left which is nowhere near an Ivory Coast player.
65 min: Appiah skips past Yaya Toure quite easily but fear not, Manchester City midfielder, your brother is on hand to half the Ghanaian’s advancing run.
Updated
62 min: Afful puts a teasing cross in from the right towards the back post. Gradel unconventionally clears it for a corner.
60 min: Ivory Coast corner is swung in by Yaya Toure but Braimah comes out to pick it from the air. Simple.
57 min: Lost count of the fouls now. The latest sees Tiene takes down Atsu on the Ghana right wing. As we wait for it to be taken, Boye and Bailly are touchy feely on the edge of the area. They brush foreheads heads and then embarrassingly fall down. Referee takes no action. When the free is eventually taken, Kolo Toure clears.
55 min: It’s becoming very stop start. Lots of needless fouls. The latest sees Bailly taken down by Appiah a yard from the centre spot. Touré takes it short, some non-descript play ensues.
52 min: Yaya Toure’s swings a free-kick in from the right near halfway but it’s not going to threaten. Ghana break on the opposite side through Afful. He passes to Atsu, who comes in off the flank and squares to Gyan. The striker’s right-footed shot sails well over.
51 min: Bony clears the delivery at the near-post. Acquah latches on to the afters but fires high and wide. Must do better.
50 min: Kanon concedes a corner, Ghana’s first of the game.
49 min: You definitely get the sense that both sides are happy to keep things compact and tight. It’s more about avoiding mistakes than creating a match-winning move.
47 min: Atsu fouls Tiene. One thing which occupied my mind at half-time: has Acquah ever dived?
Restarted!
Ghana restart. Who’s going to blink first?
A half-time email from Raymond Reardon
Cirque du Sepp wants us to write about princesses, fairytales and happy endings. After a weekend of West Ham’s mesmerising juggling act, Manchester United’s blind man’s bluff, Harry Hotspurs dazzling display at Tottenham, Southampton’s Houdini act at Loftus Road, Aston Villa’s spellbinding goal splurge against Chelsea, and Hull City almost winning at Manchester City for the first time in eighty five years, we do not want Monday to come around.
Unfortunately for most of us we will wake up from dreamland and find we are magically attached to some ogre running our everyday lives or running the Fairytale Institute Forever Association ( FIFA ).
HALF-TIME! Ivory Coast 0-0 Ghana
It’s been tense, as one would expect of a final between two sides with little to choose between them, but entertaining nonetheless. Time for a cup of tea!
45 min: One minute to be added on.
Updated
43 min: Yaya Touré is down again after pressure from Acquah but it’s not a foul and play continues. Ghana have really grown as the half has progressed and Atsu has by far been the standout but there’s something lacking in the final third.
41 min: Barry makes a hash of a clearance and Appiah takes possession. He is one-on-one with Kanon but cannot make it count.
40 min: Serey Die attempts to find Bony but the striker’s run isn’t timed as well as the midfielder wanted it and Braimah comes out to save.
39 min: Tiene comes at Atsu from behind and fouls him. Ghana free-kick about 35 yards out on the right side. Baba puts it in with his left but Barry is out comfortable to claim.
37 min: Ghana hit a post again. Baba feeds Ayew whose clipped ball from a tight angle towards goal strikes the woodwork. Goal-kick.
35 min: Atsu sends a dangerous cross towards the near post which hits the side-netting with Appiah racing on to it but his run is a yard too short of connecting.
33 min: Bailly flies down the right and gives it to Gradel. He tries to find Gervinho in the box. Boye tries to get rid but luckily his mishit clearance is collected by Braimah
30 min: Aurier sends a cross towards Bony but Mensah heads clear. The new Manchester City striker has been very quiet so far and seconds later he finds himself turning on the edge of the area but failing to connect well with a shot.
Updated
28 min: That Serey Die challenge which led to his yellow card. Ouch!
That's not nice #AFCON2015FINAL pic.twitter.com/3q0hMPYVU4
— Ali Tweedale (@alitweedale) February 8, 2015
27 min: Serey Die makes another rash challenge on Atsu. Someone should remind him he has already been booked.
25 min: Ghana coming into it a bit more now and pass it about without hurry in midfield. Eventually Andre Ayew bounds forward and works it to Atsu 30 yards out. The Ghana No7 unleashes a rocket which canons off the post with Barry beaten. What a hit!
22 min: Off the ball, Gyan has just stamped on the toes of Bailly. The Ivory Coast defender slumps to the floor, play is stopped so the referee can check he is ok but Gyan goes unpunished.
21 min: Ivory Coast look a little stronger in midfield so far but apart from that hard to separate the sides. Ghana more reliant on longer balls – the latest pump forward towards Atsu is tidily cut out by Tiene who read the pass very well.
This is quite a development. And someone in power had the cheek to question western media’s coverage of the tournament. Farce.
STUNNED!! #EqGuinea national TV are NOT showing the #Afocn2015 final #Ghana v #CIV - Oh dear Oh dear!!
— NickCavell BBCAfrica (@BBC_NickCavell) February 8, 2015
18 min: Ghana attack on the left but just as Atsu is about to swing in a cross, Aurier slides in with a perfect tackle.
16 min: Good chance for Gradel. Baba cannot clear and Gervinho picks up his poorly timed header. The former Arsenal man sees Gradel on his right, plays it in front of him. Gradel runs onto it, takes one touch but shoots narrowly wide. Best move we have seen so far.
15 min: Serey Die is booked, the first of a few this evening you would imagine, for a tasty challenge on Mubarak. He plants his studs right into Mubarak’s bits with the ball nowhere to be seen. That could have been red.
14 min: Toure takes it with the inside of his right boot. He clears the wall but it’s all too comfortable for Braimah in the Ghana goal.
12 min: Atsu wanders forward near halfway lackadaisically and is robbed by Tiene who advances, cuts in from the left and is hacked down by Mubarak. Free-kick. Ideal Yaya Toure territory.
11 min: Touré hits the deck after a tussle with Acquah. He wants a free-kick 20 yards from goal but the referee waves away his protest.
9 min: Another corner on the far side for Ivory Coast. Touré sends it in the direction of Bony this time but it’s too long. No danger.
8 min: Gradel is unhappy with Baba after an off the ball collision. The Ghana defender appeared to hit out at Gradel but it was hard to see how much genuine contact there was.
6 min: Ghana enjoy their first sustained spell of possession but it ends with a Mensah hoof from the centre circle which dribbles out for a goal-kick.
5 min: From that throw Serge Aurier tries to put another cross in. Baba blocks again. Touré swings towards Aurier, he tries an overhead kick but fails to connect and the ball fizzes across the box.
Updated
3 min: Gervinho wins a corner off Baba’s shin having attempted to cross from the left. Yaya Toure to take. Appiah heads clear and Serey Die has a pot shot which is blocked and cleared for a throw-in.
2 min: Gervinho picks up possession in his own half and injects a frightening burst of pace forward but he displays a heavy touch and runs into trouble.
Updated
Let's go!
Ivory Coast, playing in a full orange kit, get us going, playing from right to left as we watch it. Ghana are in a full white kit. Easy to distinguish.
The teams have emerged, looking calm but concentrated. They are followed by a long line of men in suits – perhaps 20, including Pele – who I assume want to shake hands with the players before kickoff. Anthems to follow and then we will be finally set for some action.
Updated
The starting XIs! Better late than never.
Ivory Coast: Barry, Kanon, Toure, Bailly, Aurier, Die, Toure, Tiene, Gervinho, Gradel, Bony.
Ghana: Braimah, Afful, Rahman, Mensah, Boye, Wakaso, Acquah, Ayew, Atsu, Gyan, Appiah.
While we wait for confirmed team news, some thought-provoking pre-match reading here on why supporting this tournament is supporting the dictatorship that’s hosting it.
Over the course of the tournament more than one Equatorial Guinean has died at the hands, or rather truncheons, of foreign police forces drafted in to contain them, or in the crush of the stampeding hordes. But they didn’t care, they came back for more. Many of them barely have roofs over their heads, for the majority live in horribly overcrowded houses and sleep in whatever living-space is left over to them. We won’t even mention drinking water, schools or centres for professional training.
Turns out that helicopter used in the crowd control last Thursday used to belong to the Suffolk Constabulary. British and proud.
— Jonathan Wilson (@jonawils) February 8, 2015
Preamble
Hello wherever you are! Have you had a good weekend? Let’s hope this ends it on a high note. It all comes down to this, 90 or maybe 120 minutes of action. The two best sides against each other, fighting it out to be crowned the footballing kings of Africa.
After three weeks of some good and equally some terrible football, few can argue that the classiest pairing have made it all the way to the final. It’s just a pity they are expecting to do battle in a near-empty stadium.
Few fans here but there are some banners. Two, situated opposite us, read: "Equatorial Guinea condemns and rejects violence."
— Nick Ames (@NickAmes82) February 8, 2015
Anyway, team news will be along shortly and keep your eyes peeled for the unbiased sort of coverage from a western media outlet that, ahem, a certain Mr Blatter and Mr Hayatou do not believe exists.
Hello. Alan will be with you shortly for Ivory Coast v Ghana. While you wait, here’s Jonathan Wilson chatting to Ghana coach Avram Grant:
As the helicopter descended, Avram Grant glanced up, his face as cadaverous as ever, but seemed emotionless. Whatever he actually felt amid the violence that led to Ghana’s Cup of Nations semi-final against Equatorial Guinea beingsuspended for almost 40 minutes, his outward appearance was calm. When the smoke grenades cleared, fans were evacuated from two stands of the Estadio de Malabo and the bottles and other missiles were cleared from the pitch, the overriding sense was of the sang-froid with which Ghana had reacted.
This is a team that has, with some justification, been accused of complacency in the past two Cups of Nations. Here, the lack of outward emotion was a positive. “We had a very good training camp in Spain,” said Grant. “We did a lot about mentality – it’s important in sports and in life to recover. This is one of the things I wanted to see with the team: the mentality. I think this is one of the keys for everything. It’s important also in life to look for solutions when things are going wrong. [The semi-final] showed a lot of strength in very difficult situation; the players showed to people in the country that they can count on them.
You can read the full article here.
