Brilliant Bony puts Yaya Toure in the shade

 

COMMENT: The new Manchester City signing bagged a precious brace to send his nation into the last four of the Africa Cup of Nations

By Kris Voakes | International Football Correspondent

In a Cote d’Ivoire shirt, Wilfried Bony hasn’t been particularly prolific.

He may have racked up enough goals at club level with Vitesse and Swansea City to persuade English Premier League champions Manchester City to part with €35 million, but a return of 11 in 36 international fixtures had left many in his homeland feeling short-changed.

He failed to score in any of the three nip-and-tuck group fixtures which saw the Elephants scrape through to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations. That stretched his scoreless streak in his nation’s orange colours to six matches.

But against Algeria on Sunday, Bony netted only his second double for Cote d’Ivoire in a 3-1 win to seal a semi-final against DR Congo. His return to scoring form couldn’t have been better timed.

Billed as a clash of the two favourites – of the overwhelming underachievers of the Afcon – it summed up the countries’ wider reputations in the competition that one entered the match as runners-up in their group, the other having squeezed through with a single win.

As a contest, it was everything it was expected to be, but Bony proved to be the difference.

In the build-up to the tournament many had questioned whether Africa had the kind of talent that could push Yaya Toure for future Caf Player of the Year crowns after he won a record fourth successive trophy.

Yet a combination of the Manchester City midfielder’s listlessness in Equatorial Guinea and his new club-mate’s timely double suggests that the African public may review their rankings in the near future.

While Cote d’Ivoire largely deserved their win – they were bigger, stronger and, for long spells, simply better – they wouldn’t have managed it but for Bony.

First, he nodded home Max Gradel’s excellent cross midway through the opening period only to see it cancelled out by a comedy piece of defending by Kolo Toure and more notably Max Bailly, which led to Hilal Soudani equalising.

Soudani could have given Algeria the lead soon afterwards but was denied by a wonderful save from Sylvain Gbohouo, and within minutes Bony was at it again. Yaya Toure, with his first memorable moment of the tournament, fired over a pinpoint free-kick from the right and the former Swansea man headed superbly home.

The Elephants’ defence showed signs of crumbling once more late on but just about held it together before Gervinho clinched the win in injury-time. Difficulties in their rearguard signifies that they shouldn’t be considered champions elect just yet, as if they haven’t given enough examples in tournaments past as to why nothing should be taken for granted.

But Cote d’Ivoire are in a fourth semi-final in six attempts, and have a €35m striker back in goalscoring form. Watch out, Africa.