International friendly
Amavubi 0-2 Ivory Coast

JUST when many thought it was not Ivory Coast’s day, Souleymane Bamba and Emerse Fae scored in the last ten minutes to gift the West Africans a hard-earned 2-0 win over Amavubi Stars in a friendly game played last evening in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Hibernian’s Bamba broke the deadlock on the 82nd minute with a clean strike that beat Rwanda’s second choice goalkeeper Jean Luc Ndayishimiye alias Bakame.

Then Emerse Fae, who plays for Nice in the French league, made it 2-0 in the final minute of stoppage time with a powerful header from a corner.

The score line could have been a lot worse had it not been for a top notch performance from Amavubi’s first choice goalkeeper Jean Claude Ndoli in the first half.

The APR shot stopper twice denied Ivory Coast’s skipper Didier Drogba and Marseille’s Bakary Kone.

Amavubi however had chances of their own but couldn’t convert them. The Wasps best chance came in the first half when Abbas Rassou failed to hit the target with only the keeper to beat.

For the second consecutive tournament, Ivory Coast  carry the favourites tag into the 22-day CAN extravaganza scheduled for capital Luanda plus Benguela, Cabinda and Lubango.

Ends