A contender for the goal of the competition from Arsenal forward Gervinho against Mali in Libreville on Wednesday put Ivory Coast into the Africa Cup of Nations final.
Gervinho’s solo moment of brilliance deep into the first half gave the Elephants a 1-0 win and left them on a collision course with Zambia, shock winners over Ghana in the day’s other semi-final.
The pair meet back at Libreville’s L’Amitie stadium on Sunday.
For the Ivorians, this will be their first finals appearance since losing in 2006 and they are seeking their second continental title after a lone success 20 years ago.
Winning coach Francois Zahoui said: “We had to manage some difficult times but, luckily, we scored just before the end of the first half. I’m proud of the boys – they managed the game with calmness and patience, and a little stress.”
Mali coach Alain Giresse said reality had bitten his inexperienced side.
“We had some players missing. We tried to get along with what we had,” said Giresse. “We almost succeeded.”
Mali had struggled to keep the orange tide at bay in a frenetic first half, until Gervinho made his mark with a little help from some slack defending.
Depriving Mali back Ousmane Berthe of the ball bang on the halfway line, the Gunners star scampered hare-like down the left wing, leaving Malian pursuers in his wake to shoot right-footed past Soumaila Diakite and into the far corner.
Giresse pounded the dug-out with his fist in frustration.
The Ivorians went into this semi-final looking to avoid the same fate as Ghana, the Black Stars being knocked out earlier by so-called minnows Zambia across the border in Bata.
With Pele among the crowd at the three-quarters-full 40,000-seat stadium, Didier Drogba almost put the Elephants into a fifth-minute lead when he hit the crossbar.
Ivory Coast could have been two up inside the opening quarter of an hour but Yaya Toure followed his captain’s lead by also hitting the woodwork, after being set up by Kalou.
In the last minute before the break, Gervinho struck to give his team a deserved lead.
Mali came out for the second half with an unenviable task – to become the first team at the tournament to score against Drogba and company.
But the Ivorians held firm to march on while Mali head honourably to Saturday’s third place play-off.
Zambia advanced to Sunday’s decider after surprising Ghana 1-0 in the first semi-final at Estadio de Bata. The southern African team is probably every neutral’s choice to win the tournament on its return to Libreville 19 years after a plane crash in the Gabonese capital robbed the country of one of its best teams.
Second-half substitute Emmanuel Mayuka scored in the 78th minute to punish Ghana for missing an early penalty.
Ghana dominated possession and had a string of chances, but could find no way past the Zambian defence.
“There will be a lot of emotions on both sides,” Francois Zahoui said. “Zambia is a young team and we know they are a team of emotion. We respect them a lot.”
