Violence broke out in Abidjan on Monday evening after the country’s football team, the Elephant of Cote d’Ivoire lost 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea, to put their chances of qualifying to the knockout stages of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in jeopardy.
The two-time champions now must endure a nervy wait to determine if they will advance to the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams.
Disappointment for all including Ivorian great Didier Drogba
Despite a multitude of missed opportunities for the home team, Equatorial Guinea’s Emilio Nsue opened the scoring before the break, and Pablo Ganet unleashed a brilliant free kick after it. Two minutes before the end, Nsue, capped his performance with his fifth goal of the tournament.
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A bus apparently forced to be abandoned as a result of the violence was riddled with holes that looked like it was pelted by stones with shattered windows evidence of massive attack and expression of anger. There were also videos of things being burnt in the streets of Abidjan as police could be seen converging around the area.
There are no records yet as to whether there were injuries and level of injuries. Hope is not completely lost for the Elephants despite the defeat as they will wait till the end of all the group matches on Sunday to see if they can move into the last 16 and one of the three best losers.
