Substitute Didier Drogba (left) celebrates with Yaya Toure after the midfielder put the Ivory Coast 2-0 ahead near the end of the Africa Cup of Nations Group D match against Tunisia in Rustenburg.
(CNN) -- Didier Drogba was dropped to the bench for the first time in his long international career on Saturday, but his Ivory Coast teammates took up the responsibility to win a place in the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-0 win over Tunisia.
Togo's later 2-0 win over Algeria ensured the Ivorians went through, and meant the 1990 champions became the first nation to be eliminated.
Drogba handed over the captain's armband to Didier Zakora, having failed to impress in his team's opening Group D victory over Togo.
The 34-year-old former Chelsea star had complained of a lack of match fitness before the tournament started in South Africa, having not played since the end of the Chinese league season with his club Shanghai Shenhua in early November.
Read: Africa Cup of Nations team guide
Part of the Ivorians' "golden generation," Drogba is still waiting for his first AFCON title in six attempts, having lost in the 2012 final after a penalty shootout against Zambia.
The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in South Africa on Saturday. It is one of the world's most exciting tournaments including players who ply their trade in some of Europe's top leagues. Among them is Fuad Ibrahim, a young American striker who once played for the U.S Under-17 and Under-20 teams.
Ethiopia's American boy
High flyer: Cape Verde's 'Special One'
Tiny island makes football history
Footballing maverick on giving back
However, he did come on as a replacement in the second half for his 92nd international appearance as Yaya Toure and another substitute, Didier Ya Konan, scored late goals to add to Gervinho's first-half opener.
"Why didn't I play Didier Drogba? Because it seemed to me that the 11 players I picked were the best to overcome this good Tunisian side," Ivory Coast coach Sabri Lamouchi told reporters in Rustenburg.
"My first satisfaction comes from the victory and the second from the content. We really entered this competition today.
"We caused a lot of problems for this very good Tunisian team and were never really threatened at any point."
Read: Mourinho mentors Cape Verde's 'Special One'
Arsenal striker Gervinho put his team ahead in the 21st minute with his second goal of the tournament, but the Elephants needed to wait until two minutes from the end before two-time African player of the year Toure curled in his second in two games.
Ya Konan, also dropped to the bench after starting against Togo, sidefooted home the third goal in the 90th minute.
Togo helped the Ivorians to go through to the knockout phase ahead of the final round of group games by beating Tunisia's north African rivals Algeria.
Captain Emmanuel Adebayor scored the opening goal in the 32nd minute to give his team hope of reaching the last eight for the first time, needing only a draw in Wednesday's match against Tunisia.
Read: Ethiopia's 'American boy'
The match was held up late in the second half when a goal post was knocked over after Algeria's Adlene Guedioura collided with the netting, meaning 13 minutes of added time were played.
Two minutes into that, Dove Wome struck on the counterattack to end Algeria's hopes of going through.
Adebayor has returned to international action after settling a dispute with national team officials.
Togo did not reach the finals of the 2012 tournament, having been reinstated in the qualifiers after initially being banned.
The squad broke rules by withdrawing before the 2010 event in Angola following a gun attack on the team's bus that left three people dead.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Former Chelsea star Drogba had been dropped from the starting line-up for the first time in his international career, having been taken off during his country's opening match after failing to impress.
Manchester City star Toure, the two-time African player of the year, netted his second goal of the tournament in the 88th minute.
Another substitute, Didier Ya Konan (No. 13) sealed the Ivorians' second successive win with the third goal at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
Striker Gervinho, who plays for English club Arsenal, scored the opening goal in the 21st minute. He also netted a late winner in the opening match against Togo.
Emmanuel Adebayor helped Togo bounce back from that 2-1 defeat as the Sparrowhawks' captain scored in a 2-0 win against Algeria which put the Ivorians into the quarterfinals and eliminated the north Africans with one match still to play.
Ibrahim, seen here lining up for Toronto in the MLS, has been chosen to play for the Ethiopia national team at the Africa Cup of Nations.
According to Thomas Rongen, who was then the coach of the U.S. Under-20 team, Ibrahim was one of the most talented young players to come through the national set up. But things did not work out and, after dropping down to the NASL with his hometown club the Minnesota Stars, Ibrahim was released at the end of last season.
Despite being a free agent Ibrahim was contacted by the Ethiopian Football Federation to see whether he would like to play for the country of his birth. After thinking about it, he agreed and joined the team's training camp in Addis Ababa.
As a newcomer, and someone who doesn't speak much of the language, Ibrahim had to win his squad mates over. His first start was against Tanzania, where he scored in a 2-1 victory.
Ethiopia's qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations is not the only football success that the country is enjoying. They have secured four points in their first two 2014 World Cup qualification matches, including a 1-1 draw against South Africa.
The image most people have of Ethiopia is of the devastating famine in the mid-1980s that killed millions of people. Ibrahim's family survived and left for the U.S. in the 1990s for a better life and more opportunities for their young son.
Ibrahim is not the first U.S. soccer star to move abroad. National teams across the world, including Palestine, Haiti and Afghanistan, have tapped into their American diasporas to bolster their squads. Omar Jarun (pictured center, who was born in Kuwait to an American mother and Palestinian father, was raised in Georgia but now plays for the Palestinian national soccer team.
|