Haller’s volley knocks out DR Congo and sends hosts Ivory Coast into Afcon final

Some countries plan for tournaments for years, work on plans and development and DNA, meticulously lay out their blueprint for success. And some just wing it, finding amid the chaos a sense of purpose and momentum that, being unexpected, somehow makes them all the more potent. Ivory Coast have looked out of this tournament on at least three occasions and replaced their coach but they will face Nigeria in Sunday’s final.

Nobody could say they dominated but, after an edgy start, it was probably Ivory Coast’s most impressive display of the tournament so far as the Saudi-based pair of Franck Kessié and Seko Fofana gave them control of midfield in the second half and their first 90-minute win of the knockout phase. Sébastien Haller, making his first start of the tournament, got the only goal after 65 minutes which, by recent Ivorian standards, felt almost like scoring in the prelude.

The DR Congo coach, Sébastien Desabre, had spoken of his side having “a responsibility to provide joy and hope” to the Congolese people as M23 rebels and Islamist groups continue their attacks on civilian targets in the east of the country. They had progressed through the tournament thanks to four successive draws, eliminating Egypt in a penalty shootout, before an impressive 3-1 win over Guinea in the quarter-final.

They started by far the more positively and looked to have taken the lead after Yahir Fofana fumbled a near-post corner, only for the Libyan referee Mutaz Ibrahim to rule, perhaps generously, that Cédric Bakambu had kicked the ball out of the goalkeeper’s hands before poking it over the line. Every time DRC had the opportunity they whipped over an in-swinger, clearly seeing Fofana’s handling under pressure as a potential weakness.

Four suspensions may have derailed some sides, but there was an odd sense they had strengthened the Ivorians, with Willy Boly returning to the back line and, crucially, Haller and Simon Adingra coming in to the forward line. Haller would have been a starter but for the ankle injury that caused him to miss the group stage and Adingra not merely scored the last-minute equaliser against Mali in the quarter-final, but caused persistent problems with his pace. It was the reserve right-back, Wilfried Singo, in for Serge Aurier, whose cross was headed just wide by Adingra after 17 minutes.

Still, though the Ivorians struggled to get going, not helped by the worst pitch – the only poor surface – in the tournament. A friendly against Mali here last September had to be suspended when the drainage failed following a heavy downpour, leading to a saturated pitch and a flooded VIP area. Both the sports minister and prime minister were sacked as a consequence.

Singo’s delivery from the right continued to look their most plausible threat and it was his perfect ball that Haller thumped wide five minutes before the break. DRC had started to drop deep a couple of minutes before that, as though the humidity of the evening was sapping them and, encouraged, Kessié clipped a shot against the post.

There has been a strange mood around the Ivorians since the end of the group stage. When they lost 1-0 to Nigeria and then, humiliatingly 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea, there were minor street disturbances, with cars and shops burnt out. The assumption was that the host were out. When they then went through as the fourth best third-placed team thanks to a string of implausible results, locals fans took to calling them ‘les revenants’; the zombies.

Since when they have proved remarkably hard to kill, finding an 86th-minute equaliser against Senegal and then, a man down, a 90th-minute equaliser and a 122nd-minute winner against Mali. The sense is less of expectation as euphoric disbelief. “The dead kid does not fear the knife,” said Senegal’s coach Aliou Cissé (speaking of a young goat, rather than a child) after his side’s defeat.

There was never a sense of them imposing themselves, despite the fervent support of a 60,000 capacity crowd. There were moments when it felt like an improbably sticky Dublin in the good days, green, orange and white tricolours fluttering, great choruses of “Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé…” And then, from nowhere, a goal, the most extraordinary roar and plumes of green and orange smoke. Max Gradel, who had played in 2015 when Ivory Coast beat DRC in the semi-final, crossed from the right and Haller got over his back-post volley to send the ball down into the ground and up past Lionel Mpasi into the top corner.