The Elephants of the Ivory Coast on Monday evening beat the Super Eagles of Nigeria 1:0 in their Group B titanic encounter at the Essipong Stadium in Sekondi.
Kalou delivered his winner in the 66th minute after meandering his way through five Nigerian opposition, including goalkeeper Austin Ejide who could only look back into his goal as the lowly placed ball made its way into his net.
It had been a closely fought game with the Ivorians slightly on top as they did more of the attacking, playing more on the wings against Nigeria midfield concentration.
For the Ivory Coast, defender Kolo Toure was outstanding while Kalou and Bakare Kone were a handful upfront.
For Nigeria, Obafeme Martins, Mikel Obi and Aiyegbeni played quite well and had some good chance, however they failed to threaten the Ivorians much.
With the win, the Ivorians who also beat Nigeria in the first semi-final game of the 2006 Cup of Nations in Egypt courtesy a Didier Drogba lone strike in Alexandria, will occupy the top spot in the Group B standings pending the outcome of the game between fellow group mates, Mali and Benin later on Monday.
Source: Ernest Senaya
