Elephants smash Lions1-0 to quarter-finals

The Elephants of Ivory Coast have smashed Lions 1-0 to reach the quarter finals of the African Nations Cup as the Lions return home.

Unlike during the qualifiers when Lions snarled the Elephants 4-1, the coach Volker Finke made bad choices and ended up being sacked from the competition.

As the master planner of the national team Volker Finke has been paid in his own coins. He stood his ground not to feature Clinton Njie saying football is not like elections where players can be voted. Had he only played Clinton for Cameroonians to see his poor form.

The Lions’ team lacked finish with the absence coupled with a leaking midfield was light obstacle for the elephants shrug off.

The first half saw the Lions enter the game with vigour unlike the Elephants who sent their first shots offside. Gaining momentum, the Elephants through Wilfred Bony meet the heavy defense line with Nicolas Nkoulou and Aurelien Chedjou putting the balls in touch to corner kicks.

A pass from Choupo-Moting upfront meet the soft feet of captain Mbia who sent a lazy shot off target.

During this time Fabrice Ondoua of Barcelona B team did a good job sending out the shots from Allain serge and and Yaya Toure.

Pushing out strategic shots Ondoua was on his toes and made the most of his skills until Serge Allain Gradel of Saint Etienne, France author of the equalizer in the Ivory-Coast- Mali encounter sent in a powerful shot that surprised Ondoua as resulting from a Jerome Guihoata error.

Edgar Salli would later miss an opportunity to equalize at the 44th minute as he sent the ball into the waiting hands of the Ivorian goalkeeper.

Despite the changes Finke made in the second part of the game, the play was falling apart with a poor game plan compared to Ivory Coast.

Even with Njie Clinton taking the place of Benjamin Moukandjo when all the eggs were already broken the Lions attempted to shoot on target to no avail. A good crossing from Leonie Kweukeu met an empty Lions attack with no one to finish up.

The lions leave the competition with two draws and losing the last game to Ivory Coast.