Hosts Ghana claimed the bronze medal in the African Cup of Nations after defeating Ivory Coast 4-2 on Saturday as the star-studded Elephants finished the tournament empty-handed. Ivory Coast striker Boubacar Sanogo notched a brace to foil Sulley Muntari's opener in the first-half. However, Ghana excelled in the second period to frustrate the Ivorians, courtesy of three goals from Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Junior Agogo and Haminu Dramani. A goal scoring record was set as the tournament's tally reached 96 goals, three greater than the 1998 edition in Burkina Faso. Salomon Kalou almost put Ivory Coast ahead after five minutes when he latched onto a neat pass to go clear on goal. The Chelsea forward's initial low shot was blocked by Richard Kingson but he gathered the ball again and should have scored into an empty net. However, he opted to feed Didier Drogba but his pass was too long as Ivory Coast missed the chance to open the scoring. Muntari, one of Ghana's few brightest stars in the tournament, put the hosts in front after ten minutes.
The Black Stars were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area, which Muntari superbly converted after firing a powerful left-footed shot into the far top corner. Sanogo equalized in the 24th minute when he ghosted behind John Mensah, controlled Abdelkader Keita's deft through pass before slotting home into the bottom corner. Ghana had to thank goalkeeper Kingson for keeping them on level terms with Ivory Coast after parrying two successive shots from Drogba and Sanogo six minutes later. But he couldn't prevent Sanogo from hitting the second for Ivory Coast in the 32nd minute. Drogba side-footed Kalou's cross but Kingson blocked it into the path of the Werder Bremen striker, who poked into an empty net. Substitute Owusu-Abeyie drew Ghana level in the 70th minute with a fine solo effort. He raced towards Ivory Coast area, beat three challengers on his way, before drilling home underneath Tiasse Kone, who made his first start of the competition. Nottingham Forest striker Agogo added the third ten minutes from time after being set-up by Michael Essien as Ghana deservedly went ahead. Dramani ensured the victory four minutes later when his shot bounced off the ground and went past the unfortunate Kone.
