Ivory Coast vs. Ghana is the Africa Cup of Nations final we deserve

Disqualified teams. Ebola. A change of venue. Too few hotel rooms. Draws, lots of draws. Unexpected departures. Drawing of lots. Cinderella stories. Actual goals. Accusations of cheating. Tear gas. Tears. Dancing. Oh, the dancing. The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations has already given us so much, yet on Sunday, the tournament is prepared to give us even more: Ivory Coast vs. Ghana.

It just might be the best ending to tournament that anyone could’ve asked for. Sure, having underdogs is unexpectedly exciting, but the result can be underwhelming. Last time around, Nigeria beat the surprising Burkina Faso 1-0. In 2012, it took a penalty shootout for Zambia to shock Ivory Coast and lift the trophy.

Sure, there’s a tendency toward caution in the final of any major tournament. The teams have come this far, and they’re reluctant to allow a slip, fearing it will keep their hands off the silverware. These sides, especially, will fear any mistake. Collecting that trophy will end a long, long wait for either. While les elephants have had something of a golden generation rising through over the past decade, they’ve only won AFCON once, back in 1992. And while Ghana are four-time champs, their last title came in 1982.

But let’s not think about the past. Let’s pause, for a moment, and revel in how lucky we are to get this pairing. The much-hyped golden generation didn’t really produce all that much for Ivory Coast -- just the AFCON silver medal in 2012 and three straight appearances in the World Cup group stage. Now Didier Drogba might be retired, but this is still a team laden with talent, talent that may not again don that orange-and-green jersey. Kolo Touré, who has been surprisingly solid, has already announced his retirement from international football. Brother Yaya will likely do the same. Salomon Kalou is pretty much done for, age will likely take a toll on Cheick Tioté and Seydou Doumbia before the next major tournament, and there’s no way Gervinho will still be so speedy two years down the line.

Ghana, meanwhile, look to be on the rise. The Black Stars struggled a bit through qualifying, and to the surprise of many, chose to appoint Avram Grant just six weeks before the tournament started. The talented squad has really come together, though, with André Ayew scoring three goals, Christian Atsu doubling up against Guinea, and Kwesi Appiah following up his meteoric rise to first-division football with his first-ever international goal. Ayew is the oldest of this group, at 25, so here’s hoping this group can truly settle into their groove -- despite making it this far, they still look a little disjointed -- by the time the next major tournament rolls around. And it’s likely we’ll still see Asamoah Gyan around then, too. The Black Stars’ captain may be 29, but the way his side struggled when he was locked in the hospital for malaria treatment shows how important he remains, and they’ll likely dip him in preservative to make sure he keeps ticking along.

So on one hand, we’ve got what might be the final thrills from a side that has one last chance to live up to their golden hype by claiming silverware. On the other, we’ve got a team pretty much in their prime, with time ahead of them yet with plenty of pressure to finally get their country back onto the winners’ podium. Oh, and both managed to score three goals in their last two matches. While it’s certainly unlikely that the final will feature enough freeflowing, devil-may-care attack to provide a multitude of goals, no matter what, we’ll be able to appreciate this game for what it is: a rare AFCON final featuring what might actually be the two most talented sides on the continent.