The heat, the humidity, the passion, and desire! Japoma Stadium hosts the AFCON 2021 heartthrob’s Sierra Leone against one of the continents elites, Ivory Coast. Sebastien Haller has yet to open his goal scoring campaign, and now he comes up against the ever ready to please and perform, so called ‘New Neuer’ goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara.
Will the underdogs prevail, or will the 2015 AFCON champions get the job done?
Africa Cup of Nations – Group D
Sunday 16 January
Japoma Stadium
18:00
To Win
Ivory Coast 1/3
Ivory Coast 1/3
Draw 29/10
Sierra Leone 10/1
Sierra Leone 10/1
Ivory Coast
Following their win to top group E, Ivory Coast will ride into this encounter with confidence. An early screamer from Max-Alain Gradel was all it took for the Ivorians to get three points on the board. An all-round quality performance will leave head coach Patrice Beaumelle with a little tweaking to do, but overall, he will be pleased.
The fire power that Cote D’voire possess was not even on full display, with Nicolas Pepe and Wilfried Zaha making minor cameos against Equatorial Guinea. I feel there is still a lot that they have to offer in attack, and defensively the cohesion will only get better. Eric Bailly’s last ditch tackles get me off my seat and Ghislain Konan made brilliant runs to support the attack in cahoots with his defensive responsibilities.
Like every team, matchday one nerves are a factor. Despite the edginess, the Elephants got the job done and can only get better from here. I expect big things from the 2015 AFCON champions with a lot of those players still present in this edition’s squad.
Sierra Leone
The stories coming out of the Sierra Leone camp are nothing but tear jerking. The underdogs held their own against reigning champions Algeria and you could see the elation in their celebrations to a 0-0 draw when the final whistle blew.
Ranked 108th in the world coming into the tournament, head coach John Keister knows the task at hand was always going to be an uphill battle.
Backed by the passionate fans who travelled a hard journey to Cameroon and bolstered by defender Steven Caulker and lively Mohamed Buya down the left wing, they do have a player to martial the backline, one to aim at on the attack, and their 12th-man to keep the spirits high.
The toughest test for their group E campaign is over, but the job is not done, and with the mentality the Leone Stars will have acquired after that result, anything will seem possible.
Prediction: Ivory Coast Win & Totals Over 1.5 Goals (7/10)
While Sierra Leone has won the hearts of many fans, including myself, when betting, we can’t back our hearts with our pockets. Like I’ve mentioned before, Ivory coast have the attacking players to put a goal against any defence in this tournament. You can back them to get on the score sheet and continue leading Group E. I do feel 1/3 is way too short, and after shaking the first game jitters, a more composed frontline should put more than one goal away, back the Matchbet: Ivory Coast & Over 1.5 Goals at 7/10.
Written by Joshua Gaillard