* Côte d’Ivoire have faced DR Congo five times previously at the AFCON (W2 D2 L1)
* With this their first encounter since a 2-2 draw in the 2017 group stages
Maravi Express
Carefree, innovative, ambitious and above all, all full of talent. Simon Adingra and Ouma Diakité represent the next generation of Côte d’Ivoire’s football.
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Aged 22 and 20 respectively, the two young men experienced winding paths before being the protagonists of the Elephants’ qualification for the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023.
Standing at 1.75 meters tall, Simon Adingra had a difficult journey before becoming a footballer — and he says: “I’ve had some difficult times, and that has shaped my character. I remember the day an agent came to my house because he wanted to recruit me to go to an academy in Benin.
“With nine other boys, we went to this country except that the academy in question did not exist. The crook left with our money, and we found ourselves on the street. I had to take on odd jobs to meet my needs.
“When I think of everything I have experienced, I must give the best of myself, for my country, my family, especially to honor my father who is no longer with us and who has always encouraged us to go this direction.”
Entering the game in the 86th minute against Mali, the right winger conditioned himself to be decisive and alert: “I told myself that I was going to have an opportunity and that it was up to me to seize it. And yes I am lucky.
“I can tell you that it was, as an individual, one of my biggest emotions as a footballer. My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour,” admitted Adingra.
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Another rising star is, of course, Oumar Diakité. Like Adingra, number 14 of the Elephants came into play during the second period of the match against the Eagles.
Active on the left flank, the native of Bingerville wasted no time in getting noticed. First by receiving a yellow card then by scoring the winning goal on a play initiated by Simon Adingra, before being unfortunately sent off.
“My joy was so great that I forgot that I had a yellow card , My mistake. I couldn’t play the half, but I don’t think it will hurt my team because we have the depth, and even if I’m not there, we’ll be able to do the job,” said Diakité.
To be the Côte d’Ivorie hero, Diakité imagined it for a long time and even dreamt of it: “It’s an inexplicable feeling. During my training at ASEC, I began training as an engineer. Even though I was thriving in football, I needed to secure my life in a certain way. Because everything moves very quickly in this world.”
Tomorrow, the Elephants return to the majestic Alassane Ouattara Olympic stadium in Ebimpé, the venue where their African dream was dented by a 4-0 thrashing handed by Equatorial Guinea 4-0 — as they will be hoping to erase that memory when facing DR Congo.
Match facts and figures
* Côte d’Ivoire have faced DR Congo five times previously at the AFCON (W2 D2 L1), with this their first encounter since a 2-2 draw in the 2017 group stages.
* In the knockout phase, the only previous meeting between Côte d’Ivoire and DR Congo was at the semi-final stage in 2015; the Elephants won 3-1 and went on to win the trophy that year.
* This is Côte d’Ivoire’s 10th appearance in the AFCON semi-finals, becoming the fifth nation to play in as many as 10 semi-finals, along with Nigeria (15, inc. this year), Egypt (13), Ghana (12) and Cameroon (10). It’s their first since 2015 when they beat this year’s opponents DR Congo 3-1 under Herve Renard.
* DR Congo have reached their sixth AFCON semi-final – they have won the previous two against the hosts (v Ethiopia in 1968 and Egypt in 1974) but have never won a semi-final match when not playing that year’s hosts, losing all three (1972, 1998 and 2015).
* On the last three occasions, the 2023 AFCON host nation has reached the semi-final, they have been eliminated without scoring a goal: Ghana in 2008 (lost 1-0 to Cameroon), Equatorial Guinea in 2015 (lost 3-0 to Ghana) and Cameroon in 2021 (drew 0-0 with Egypt and lost 3-1 on pens). The last host to reach the final was Egypt in 2006.
* Côte d’Ivoire reached the 2023 edition’s semi-final thanks to a 2-1 win over Mali, which saw them score in the 90th and 120th minutes to win. They were only the second team to score in the 90th and 120th minutes in the same AFCON match, along with Morocco vs Algeria in 2004.
* Should DR Congo reach the 2023 AFCON final, it would be their first final since 1974. This would represent the biggest gap between a nation reaching AFCON finals, with Tunisia currently having the longest wait between 1965 and 1996.
* Côte d’Ivoire could become the first nation to reach the final of the AFCON despite suffering a four-goal defeat earlier in the tournament (lost 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea) since Nigeria in 1990, who lost 5-1 to Algeria in the group stages before facing them again in the final that year, losing 1-0.
* 20-year-old Oumar Diakité scored Côte d’Ivoire’s 120th minute winner against Mali in the 2023 AFCON quarter-final, becoming the Elephants’ youngest AFCON scorer since Tchiressoua Guel in 1994 (18 years, 31 days) and only the second player in the last 11 editions under the age of 21 to score a winning goal in the knockout stages, along with Dango Ouattara for Burkina Faso vs Tunisia in 2022 (quarter-final).
* Only Angola’s Fredy (11) has created more chances at the 2023 AFCON than DR Congo’s Arthur Masuaku (10), with Masuaku playing more passes into the opposition box than any other player (53). Despite this, he is yet to register an assist.
* Yoane Wissa has scored two of DR Congo’s five goals at this year’s edition, scoring against Zambia and Guinea. Only four players have ever netted in three separate games at a single AFCON for the Leopards: Mayanga Maku in 1972 (3), Ndaye Mulamba in 1974 (5), Jerry Tondelua in 1998 (3) and Junior Kabananga in 2017 (3).—Reporting by CAFonline
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