Ivory Coast Vs. Equatorial Guinea, 2012 Africa Cup Of Nations: Elephants Cruise Into Semifinals

Nobody really expected Equatorial Guinea to do well against the Ivory Coast in their Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal, but then again, nobody really expected the co-hosts to make it this far anyway. The Elephants might have won all three of their group stage matches, but they've yet to really fire on all three cylinders and show the world just what makes them a class above most teams at the tournament.

That was the story of the first half as well, where star striker Didier Drogba missed a penalty as Eq. Guinea gave just as good as they got, regularly threatening Boubacar Barry's net. Drogba made up for his miss by blowing up Lauren Doe and Rui and finishing inside Danilo's near post ten minutes before halftime, but the goal didn't seem to deflate Eq. Guinea, who were still fighting hard well into the second half.

Drogba's second, however, was a killer. The big man sent in an absolutely brilliant header from a harmless looking free kick with 70 minutes gone, and from that point on the Ivory Coast ran rampant. Yaya Toure managed to make it 3-0 with a wonderful free kick that swerved its way off the upright and in to put a gloss on the scoreline, and the Elephants ultimately cruised into the semifinal against Zambia in style. That's four wins in a row to start this tournament for the Ivory Coast, and you'd have to put them as favourites to win it all at this point. Eq. Guinea can be very proud of themselves for fighting so hard, but ultimately it was nowhere near enough to trouble Drogba, Toure and company.