Egypt vs. Ivory Coast

WHAT A SAVE! Ivory Coast nearly equalised.

1-0 so far to Egypt, and i've been supporting them since the group stages so hope they can hold out. But they have had a few close calls (to say the least) and can't see them holding out... another goal seems a must.

This match has been absolutely pathetic. Players diving, feigning injury... It's cringeworthy.

I just turned it off.

2 - 0 Egypt!

Quality match.

Intriguing game Keita pulls a good striker back 2-1!

This is going to be a really good half hour or so.

Brilliant goal by Keita, and perfect timing after the Egyptians thought they had it won.

GAME ON!!!

Nightmare, comical defending from K.Toure. 3-1 to Egypt.

GAME OVER!!! 3-1!!

Kolo went for a Big Mac! He was DONE!!!

09:57



09:58





Laughable from Toure.

I really think it's been great as a match, maybe because it's quite tense with me really wanting Egypt to go through ahead of Ivory Coast.

Egypt's 'keeper has been immense by the way...

4-1!! GAME...SHOT...AND THE MATCH!!!

Full time.

Ivory Coast. They wear Orange just like Holland and they also have something else in common - they are big match bottlers!!

The Egyptians were doing their best to waste time when they could as long as they were in the lead.

The match was very good and very enjoyable from my perspective.

I feel sorry for the Coast. Egypt got the lucky opener and from that they did their best to kill the game. Ivory Coast created all the opportunities and played all the football and unluckily for them they had to then field a Bundesliga 2nd Division backup Keeper. Egypt were dangerous on the counter-attack and again got lucky when the ball came off Meité's head and into the path of Zaky who finished it well considering his position.

Kader Keita pulled one back shortly after with an absolute belter of a goal. But then Zaky got away again and Kolo Touré was woeful to be honest, he had a shocker. Zaky just had to hit the target as the Keeper was always struggling.

The fourth was way flattering and very unfortunate for Ivory Coast again.

It just wasn't meant to be. Hadary had a great day in goal for Egypt and he was the difference. Every shot on target from the Elephants was dealt with by this man. And still it shows how the quality of a Goalkeeper means so much. The two teams with the best Goalkeepers are now in the final.

Salomon Kalou and Dindane were pathetic. Kolo Touré admittedly had a shocker on his return from injury. The good news at least is that we will see the return of our players.

I don't think Ivory Coast bottled it Johaldo. They tested the Egyptian Keeper from start to finish and showed great spirit throughout.

The quality of the Keeper told in the end, as Ivory Coast had the better shots and chances in the game for me.

They certainly didn't bottle it last year either in the final. They lost it on penalties after a game that they played extremely well in and again the quality of the Keeper told. It's no coincidence that the two best Keepers are the two finalists.

They still have a match on Saturday don't they?

I keep forgetting about that.

Against Ghana, which everybody thought would have been the final. Great tournament though.

Touré needs another game to find some fitness and stability again, he was woeful tonight. I hope he comes back to us in good condition anyway.

The annoying thing about this final is that it's two teams who came from the same group, so it seems a bit anti-climatic.

Although Cameroon have improved since that match, so it should be a move evenly competed encounter.

I do, J-Axe.

Let's face it Ivory Coast were the big favourites for this tournament and have some world class players in their ranks, who play week in week out for the some of the world's biggest clubs. You can talk about spirit all you like but they didn't perform like we know they can. They lost their nerve in front of goal, and lost their shape defensively. On the big occasion they got battered 4-1, and that's the bottom line.



I never said they bottled this game. I remember this match, and they were unlucky. It could have went either way.

I think you're a bit upset that Toure got done for the third goal. I can understand that too, because he was made to look foolish!

Don't get carried away there Johaldo.

I've already pointed out several times that Touré had a nightmare. He's just returned from injury and I expected him to be a little off. I am not upset at Touré's performance.

As for being "big match bottlers":

No, I'll argue your point further. I don't think they bottled it whatsoever. They had to field a terribly poor Keeper and before he was brought into the game it was fairly even. The Egypt opener was very lucky and was more of an own goal. The second was quite unlucky as Ivory Coast got to the corner first and unfortunately it landed perfectly for Zaky. The third was a counter-attack and the fourth was beyond game-over time. The scoreline very much flattered Egypt and despite that, Ivory Coast played the better football and actually had the better chances for me. I thought they tested Hadary brilliantly throughout the game and if their Keeper wasn't playing out of his skin, Ivory Coast wouldn't have needed to gamble so much as they would have been up by two or three.

The last tournament was the World Cup and it was a completely different level of football for Ivory Coast. Still, they were put into the group of death and still gave some great performances. I don't think they showed that they were bottlers in any shape or form. And you've conceded that they were unlucky last year in the African Cup of Nations. So, based on this game tonight I don't think you can claim they're alike Holland and are big match bottlers.

Are you African? You seem to feel very strongly about all this! And you sound very biased too.

You talk about the "terribly poor" keeper who came on to replace Barry, but how many of the three goals he conceded were his fault? NONE! Their second goal was a brilliant header, yet you make out as if it was a gimme: "it landed perfectly for Zaky". No keeper is saving that, not even the Egyptian keeper. The third was a classy bit of forward play and a cool finish into the corner, whilst the fourth was drilled into the top right.

I accept that the fourth came about because Ivory Coast were gambling, but that's the price paid for being in that situation. Egypt deserved their half time lead and once they held that they could afford to soak up pressure and counter.

Egypt's keeper made some brilliant saves but at the end of the day Drogba should have been scoring those. He had enough time and space to find the corner and give the keeper no chance but instead his attempts were too central.

It was the chance for the Ivorian stars to shine but instead the likes of Kolo Toure and Drogba didn't perform. They bottled it.

PS - I agree that they played well in the world cup. As you said, they were inexperienced. In the ACN final two years ago, they were unlucky but still maturing. But there's no excuses now. They've got BAGS of experience and they've been playing together for a long while now. Egypt are a very good side in their own right, but the Ivory Coast at their best would have beaten them. The fact that they lost so emphatically has highlighted their lack of bottle, certainly as far as this tournament is concerned.

I'm hope the experience of losing like this stands them in good stead for the future when playing big matches like this.

Well I can't agree. The Ivory Coast played well and the only goals you say were the fault of poor defending from the Coast were the second and third. One from a set-piece and one from a long ball counter-attack. The first was an OG and the fourth was after the competition had evaporated.

Other than that, Egypt only tested the Bundesliga 2nd division Keeper once in the first half and bar the goals they didn't test him in the second.

Ivory Coast did more of the creating, shooting and breaking down. I felt they played the better football overall and deserved something from the game. Hadary was the difference and I think the Ivory Coast did enough to test him. I can't admit that they bottled it in any shape or form. Drogba may have been better, but if he had bottled it, he wouldn't have made Hadary work so hard in the game.

But you see it differently, so we'll agree to disagree. However I don't understand how you can compare them to Holland and claim they're big match bottlers, yet in the same breath admit that they weren't bottlers in the WC or ACN two years ago. Also - they didn't bottle it against Mali, Nigeria, Guinea or any other team on their travels to this semi-final. You're comparing them to Holland based on one spot of 90mins.

As for your other pointless questions:

No, I'm not African.

Why is it always necessary for you to act the cunny funt in a football debate? It doesn't effect my views and nor does it prevent me from challenging yours. Why do you feel the need to address my personal views, rather than just debating the football related stuff? Why do my feelings about the team, the tournament and the strength of my feelings come into discussion? It's gay.

No, I don't feel strongly about anything and nor am I biased about it. I'm just challenging your views on the team. If this were Spurs V Man Utd that I had just watched and I challenged your views, I'd do so in the same manner. I don't honestly care about the eventual winners of this competition - I had my fingers crossed for Mali and Nigeria to progress at the expense of Ivory Coast in the group stages so that Touré could return to us. Unfortunately Ivory "the bottlers" Coast disposed of Mali and Nigeria very easily.

Shocking. The scoreline is not what I was expecting.