After an eventful three weeks in Equatorial Guinea that has featured both sides of the African game, the tournament is set to draw to an end today with the grand finale in Malabo- kick off at 1900 GMT.
Amidst all the great goals, poor officiating, bumpy pitches, and crowd trouble; two teams have proven to be head and shoulders above everyone else. It’s those two, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire; who would go head-to-head for the African crown in tomorrow’s game.
Both teams have had eerily similar campaigns. They both breezed through qualifying, but then had the slowest of starts to the competition. Both topped their groups, and then went on to win both the quarter and semi finals by scoring three goals in each game.
Aside the similarity in their progress in this tournament, the biggest backdrop to this clash of giants is the history behind this clash. Amidst the plethora of matches the two teams have contested in, none looms larger than the 1992 African Cup Final in Senegal.
That contest in Dakar ended with Cote d’Ivoire lifting the trophy after penalties, their first and only AFCON win to date. That Black Stars team was led by- excluding the final where he was unable to play due to suspension- Ghana’s soccer maestro Abedi Ayew Pele.
It was a painful defeat, especially as Ghana had a very star studded team who was everyone’s favourites. A little over twenty years later, a chance has popped up for Ghana to avenge that defeat.