Alexandria-Hani Al-Awadi: Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen conceded his side was outplayed by a stronger Ivory Coast side but insisted that Didier Drogba's match winning goal came from an offside position. "We did not play well, this was our worst game at this tournament and we were clearly outplayed in all departments by our opponents," Eguavoen told reporters after Tuesday's 1-0 defeat. "Probably this had to do with fatigue but our ball movement was slow," he explained. Drogba scored the winning goal for Ivory Coast when he latched on to a pass from Kolo Toure two minutes into the second half and hit the ball through the legs of onrushing goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama. "The goal that beat us was scored from an offside goal. Drogba was at least seven meters offside before he scored but the referee gave the goal," said Eguavoen.
Drogba's goal Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel hailed his young squad that managed to reach both the African final and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. "I'm very satisfied with the performance of my young team which only took shape about two years ago," the Frenchman said. "Our targets were to qualify for the World Cup as well as the Nations Cup and we have achieved both of them. "And at this tournament, our objective was to advance from one round to the next and it appears it is working well for us," he added. Ivory Coast will have to wait to determine their opponents for Friday's final after hosts Egypt face Senegal in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
