Ivory Coast hit Ethiopia, seal a place in Cecafa final

James Waindi in Dar es Salaam

Their country could be experiencing an election crisis, but members of Ivory Coast's national football team are on a roller coaster at this year's Cecafa Tusker Cup here in Dar es Salaam.

Ivory Coast wonder-kid Kipre Tchetche came of the bench again to score the all-important goal in the 72nd minute to earn the guest side a laboured 1-0 victory over Ethiopia, yesterday. This was Tchetche’s fourth goal of the competition, all scored after coming in as a substitute and this time it earned the Ivorians, who are making a debut at the regional championships, a ticket to the final.

"The Ethiopians are very good and I am impressed with them. I watched their video before the match and I noticed they have good control of the ball and accurate passes, just like ASEC Mimosa where I coach, and that is when I knew how to beat them.

We were patient and waited for them to make a mistake, for us to punish them and our game plan worked," said Ivory Coast coach Georges Kouadio.

BETTER SIDE

Ethiopia’s coach, Iffy Onoura, said he had lost to a better side but noted that they would recollect themselves to ensure that they attain a podium finish by winning the third-placed play-off match tomorrow.

"We started the first 20 minutes poorly but settled into the match later. I can say we met a tough side today. My players were a bit naive and our opponents were composed and knew what they were doing," said Onoura.

Ethiopia enjoyed more possession in the match but could not break the tight Ivorian defence, marshalled by Goua Mahan, Kouassi N’goran and Pascal Wawa. But every time the Ethiopians lost possession to the Ivorians, they were left vulnerable at the back.

Bile Georges had the best chance of the half for Ivory Coast, but missed target by inches with a powerful header for a 0-0 score line at half-time.

Coach Kouadio introduced super sub Tchetche at the beginning of the second-half in place of Marc Dion and the change made an instant impact as Tchetche threatened the Ethiopian goal three times before scoring in the 72nd minute after he beat an offside trap to notch his fourth goal of the tournament. He could have made it 2-0 five minutes later, but his curled shot came off the cross bar. He almost turned provider in the 85th minute after he released his striking partner Kone Zoumana, but the striker awkwardly missed the ball as he tried to connect a volley.

The other semi-final match between Uganda and hosts Tanzania ended 0-0 in regular time. By the time of going to press, neither side had scored in the first-half of extra time.