SAN FRANCISCO, November 13, (THEWILL) –Â Sebastien Haller, forward for West Ham United in the Premier League, scored his debut international goal for Ivory Coast in their 2-1 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier victory over Madagascar on Thursday.
The 26-year-old striker came off the bench to make his international debut for the Ivory Coast after replacing Jonathan Kodjia in the 23rd minute.
After a goalless first-half in the capital Abidjan, Parma forward Gervais Yao Kouassi opened the scoring for Patrice Beaumelle’s team in the 48th minute. Six minutes later and it was 2-0 as Haller scored to double the lead.
The Elephants were captained by Tottenham Hotspur’s Serge Aurier who played the entire game alongside AC Milan’s Franck Kessie. Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe played for 79 minutes before he was replaced by Junior Lago.
However, conspicuously absent was Crystal Palace marksman Wilfried Zaha who opted out from this month’s international duties on Thursday due to family responsibilities.
The win was Ivory Coast’s second victory in Group K as they bounced back from a 2-1 defeat against Ethiopia last November. With the win, they top Group K but are level on six points with second-placed Madagascar after three games.
Patrice Beaumelle’s side win next battle Madagascar in the reverse fixture at the Barikadimy Stadium on Tuesday, November 17.
THEWILL reports that it was a mixed bag of different fortunes for different teams in other matches played in these qualifying series on Thursday.
In Group H, Algeria beat Zimbabwe 2-1, Eswatini lost 2-nil to Congo in Group I, and Cape Verde played a goalless draw with Rwanda in Group F
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
