Veteran goalkeeper Boubacar Copa Barry emerged Ivory Coast’s hero as they clinched their second Africa Cup of Nations trophy in history on Sunday.
But his heroics were not devoid of special antics to destabilize the state of mind of the Ghanaian kick takers, the much maligned shot-stopper has revealed.
Ivory Coast came back in contention after Wilfried Bony and Juniro Tallo fluffed their opening kicks. The shootout travelled to sudden death – at 8-8 then Barry theatrically fell to the ground feigning injury for the third time.
Barry Copa had realised it was the turn of the goalkeepers to take their kicks and he had to find a way to emerge the hero. He succeeded by diving to his left to parry away Razak Braimah’s kick before expertly converting to win the trophy for Ivory Coast
"When I pulled, nothing happened in my head. I believed in God and in me. It's true that I had cramps, but I was trying to exaggerate to destabilize [the Ghana goalkeeper],” he said, laughing.
Barry Copa was second choice to new TP Mazembe goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo throughout the Afcon tournament but the latter suffered an injury to his left knee in training on the eve of the finale.