The second round of the CAN 2008 'Group of death' saw Ivory Coast booking the first quarter-finals spot with an emphatic 4-1 win over Benin, while Nigeria failed to beat Mali. Man of the day: One goal, two assists, Didier Drogba had to be the man to storm Ivory Coast into the quarter-finals with a great display against Benin. The Ivorian hitman was voted African Player of the Year last season, when he hit 33 goals with Chelsea, leading the scoring charts of the Premiership. He is one of the Dark Continent's few strikers who deserves to be labeled as a 'world class player'. The 'Top Drog' has immensely developed since joining Chelsea in 2004, after which he breezed into the Blues Hall of Fame with his outstanding goalscoring abilities. Goal of the day: Aruna Dindane placed a perfect header past Benin keeper Rachad Chitou, but the delicate assist by Drogba was the highlight of the goal. Drogba controlled the ball skillfully, before thoroughly picking out his strike partner Dindane with a deft flick, and the latter notched home for the fourth goal. Moment of the day: Yaya Toure was about to celebrate his goal against Benin, but he suddenly realizes that the provider was his brother Kolo, the Barca midfielder made an instinctive u-turn to embrace his elder brother, before the jubilant duo were joined by more Elephants.
Yaya Toure: Moment of the day Disappointment of the day: The dull stalemate between Nigeria and Mali was the first goalless draw of the competition. The disappointing Super Eagles were tipped as one of the top favorites to win the title, but they are now within a whisker of an early flight back home. What the Papers Said Even though the Ivoirians were happy with their achievement, but the injury of influential defender Kolo Toure marred the victory. Fratmat newspaper stated: ''Ivory Coast first team to quarter-finals, but Kolo unavailable for third game.'' The Arsenal defender produced a moment of magic to set up his brother Yaya with the second goal, but he was taken off a few minutes later with a groin injury. However, Fratmat tipped Yaya as man of the match after the Barcelona man fed Didier Drogba with the opener, before adding the second. On the other hand, Nigerian newspaper 'Guardian' expressed a state of disarray after the Super Eagles failed to find the net for the second straight game, drawing 0-0 with Mali. "Nigeria left tottering after Mali draw,'' read the paper, which also revealed that under-fire manager Berti Vogts 'would have 140 million Nigerians to answer to if the Super Eagles crash landed again'.
