Essipon (W/R), Jan. 25, GNA - Cote d'Ivoire became the first to qualify for the next stage of the 26th edition of the African Cup of Nations tournament when they beat Benin 4 -1 and Mali drew 0-0 with Nigeria.
At the end of the second "Group B" matches played at the Sekondi Stadium, Essipon, on Friday, Cote d'Ivoire has six points, followed by Mali with four points; Nigeria with one point and Benin with no point. It becomes clear by permutation that even if Cote d'Ivoire lose the match against Mali, Nigeria cannot assail them.
Cote d'Ivoire piped Nigeria by a lone goal, which came through Chelsea's striker Solomon Kalou in the 66th minute when he took a perfect pass from team mate, Captain Didier Drogba to ghost past four Nigerian defenders before placing the ball beyond goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama in their opening group match on Monday.
And on Friday Nigeria could only manage a goalless-draw game against Mali, a match they were to win to maintain their stakes in the tournament.
As it stands now, Nigeria would have to rely on Cote d'Ivoire to do their job for them by beating Mali while they manage to beat Benin by more than one goal.