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The Elephants’ dominant display against the Nzalang Nacional (Equatorial Guinea ) saw them put three goals past the hapless co-hosts, who looked to have reached their capacity and were lucky to have progressed that far in the competition.
a smart bet
A smart bet on this game should undisputedly be on Elephants’ victory at the end of this game as they are yet to concede a goal in the competition having many options in every department of the squad.
Coach Francois Zahoui has found a way to cull their once attractive but unproductive game and replaced it with a more cautious approach, contented with grinding out results and keeping a clean sheet while relying on the power of forwards Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Gervinho to create the opportunities needed to propel the team forward. The team’s midfield is buoyed up by reigning African player of the year Yaya Toure.
past encounters
Both of the Eagles and the Elephants sent the two host nations packing and this will be enormous confidence boosters ahead of the encounter.
But the Eagles have been known to crumble when the pressure is applied. At the last tournament in Angola, they held so much hope but crumbled in the first round.
However, The Eagles will have in the back of their minds their encounter with the Elephants at the AFCON 2008 when all they needed in their last group match was a draw to get through to the quarter-finals.However, they bit off more than they could chew as Drogba led the Ivorians to a 3-0 thrashing and eliminated them from the tournament.
The match is set for Wednesday 8 February 2012 starting 2200Hrs.
