Ivory Coast win the Africa Cup of Nations after coming from behind to defeat Nigeria 2-1 in the final at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium.
William Troost-Ekong’s header gave Nigeria a first-half lead as he rose to meet Samuel Chukwueze’s flick-on from a corner, but Franck Kessie equalised just past the hour-mark after being left unmarked at the back post from a set-piece.
However, Franck Kessie equalised just after the hour mark and Haller turned in Simon Adingra’s cross in the 81st minute to spark wild celebrations among the sea of orange in the Abidjan stands. Ivory Coast lost two of their three group-stage games, the last of which was a 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea.
They promptly sacked head coach Jean-Louis Gasset, even though they scraped into the knockout phase as one of the best third-placed teams. Assistant Emerse Fae took over as interim manager and incredibly managed to guide his team through the knockouts all the way to the final.
image: Sunday Alamba/AP