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Cote d’Ivoire dare hosts Algeria for place in CHAN semis

 Algeria and Cote d’Ivo­ire will battle it out for a place in the semi-final of the 2023 African Nations Cham­pionship this afternoon when they face off at the Nelson Mandela Stadium.

Both teams wrapped up their respective group-stage campaigns on a high and now set out to pick up where they left off in what promises to be a thrilling affair.

Host nation Algeria delivered another statement of intent as they eased past the threat of Mozambique thanks to a narrow 1-0 victory in the sides’ meeting on Saturday.

Hocine Dehiri opened the scoring in the seventh minute after which Madjid Bougherra’s men spurned a number of good chanc­es to put the game to bed.

As a result, the Fennec Foxes have now won all of their three CHAN matches without con­ceding a single goal en route to finishing top of Group A.

Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little to choose between the sides, as the last five clashes have yielded two wins apiece and a draw.

Aiming to equal their best-ever CHAN finish which saw them reach the last four in 2011, Algeria will back themselves to get the job done in front of their fans once again.

Cote d’Ivoire kick-started their African Nations Championship journey with a convincing 3-1 tri­umph over the Cranes of Uganda on Sunday evening.

Souhalio Haidara’s men flew out of the blocks through goals from Karamoko Sankara and Patrick Ouotro after which Moses Waiswa pulled one back, only for Aubin Kramo to seal the deal in the 78th minute.

That win saw the Elephants rack up four points from their three Group B fixtures, finishing two points adrift of Senegal at the top of the standings.

Fresh off the back of ending a four-game winless run across all competitions, the Ivorians now go in search of back-to-back victories for the first time since November.

In the second quarter-final tie at 7pm this evening, Senegal and Mauritania will set out to book their place in the last four at the Stade 19 Mai 1956.

Awaiting the winner of this tie in the semis is one of Madagascar or Mozambique, who are also scheduled to go head-to-head in the quarter-fi­nals tomorrow. —SportsMole

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