<p>The Africa Cup of Nations comes to an end on Sunday, and Ivory Coast will try to cap off an incredible turnaround by becoming the first host country to win the championship in eighteen years when they play Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen in the final.</p>
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<p>The game gets underway at 2:00 PM GMT at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium, which is outside of Abidjan, the capital city of Ivory Coast. Nigeria won the competition there 1-0 in the group stage.</p>
<p>Following a month of action, the most exciting AFCON in recent memory has produced an intriguing heavyweight championship match between two of West Africa’s top football teams.</p>
<p>Nigeria hopes to win their fourth Cup of Nations championship, matching the record set by longtime rivals Ghana, eleven years after they were last named continental champions. The only teams who have won the Cup of Nations more often are Egypt with seven and Cameroon with five.</p>
<p>If Ivory Coast wins the Cup of Nations for the first time since 2015, they would equal Nigeria on three championships.</p>
<p>Since Egypt won the title against the Ivorians in Cairo on penalties in 2006, the Elephants are the first host country to get to the final.</p>
<p>But with their terrible 4-0 home loss to Equatorial Guinea on January 22, their worst-ever loss at home, they very nearly became only the second host nation in thirty years to be eliminated in the group stage.</p>
<p>The devastated Ivorians split ways with their coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, seemingly losing any chance of making it to the round of sixteen. However, they were saved when a string of fortunate outcomes elsewhere put them among the top third-place teams.</p>
<p>Their amazing comeback has been led by temporary coach Emerse Fae.</p>
<p>In the quarterfinals, Ivory Coast overcame a 2-1 deficit against Mali in Bouake, winning the match right at the end of extra time, after having already eliminated holders Senegal on penalties in the capital Yamoussoukro in the previous round.</p>
<p>After that, they went back to Ebimpe, where a single goal from Sebastien Haller helped them defeat the Democratic Republic of Congo in the semifinals.</p>
<p>The striker for Borussia Dortmund, Haller, declared on Saturday that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”</p>
<p>“You run out of options when you descend as low as we did. We faced the wall with our backs to it. We needed to examine ourselves closely and make some necessary corrections.</p>
<p>Before being forced into the limelight mid-tournament, Fae had never managed a team.</p>
<p>Fae was a member of the Elephants team that lost the 2006 championship game with Didier Drogba and the Toure brothers. Now, he hopes to emulate Senegal’s Aliou Cisse, who lost a championship game as a player before winning one as a coach in Cameroon in 2022.</p>
<p>“We have a great opportunity to keep the trophy at home,” said Fae, who, whatever of Sunday’s result, must now be a serious candidate for the position going forward.</p>
<p>The disorganized campaign of Ivory Coast stands in sharp contrast to Nigeria’s, led by their seasoned Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro.</p>
<p>There were significant concerns about the Super Eagles going into the competition due to injuries and their unimpressive performance.</p>
<p>Following a poor 1-1 tie with Equatorial Guinea, Peseiro implemented a new three-defender central defense scheme, and the results have been fantastic.</p>
<p>In their previous five games, Nigeria has only allowed one goal, and that came from a penalty against South Africa in the semifinals.</p>
<p>Osimhen, the reigning African player of the year, has only managed one goal in this AFCON, but his selfless efforts have been impressive, and it is obvious that the Napoli striker is intensely motivated to win the championship.</p>
<p>Peseiro said on Saturday, “We want to win, but we are happy with what we have done so far.”</p>
<p>Zaidu Sanusi, Nigeria’s wing-back, was still out due to injury, and Fae disclosed that other Ivory Coast players had been out since the semifinal.</p>
<p>But after missing the DR Congo match due to suspension, Oumar Diakite, Christian Kouame, Odilon Kossounou, and Serge Aurier will seek to make a comeback.</p>
