AFRICAN champions, Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday crashed out of the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates follwing a 1-2 loss to Argentina, who cruised to the semi-final of the competition.
The defence of the Baby Elephants collapsed as early as the sixth minute when Joaquin Ibanez connected Matias Sanchez’s looping cross to beat goalkeeper Seck Diabagate for the curtain raiser
On two occasions, the Ivorians came close to equalising but for poor marksmanship.
First, Aboubakar Keita’s free-kick in the 15th minute was cuddled by goalkeeper Augusto Batalla while two minutes later, Kouassi Begbin’s shot in the penalty area was not hard enough to beat the Argentine keeper.
The South Americans who obviously neutralised their opponents’ style of play increased the lead in the 33rd minute through Rodrigo Moreira who connected a corner kick with the bottom of his boot.
The African champions did not fare better in the second half lacking the initiative to put the ball behind the net, as the South Americans played more cohesively to maintain their lead.
Cote d’Ivoire later in the 78th minute eventually got a consolatory goal through a spot-kick converted by captain Franck Kessie, after Digbo Maiga’s cross was blocked by the hand of Leandro Vega in the penalty area.
Argentina will now face Mexico who edged out Brazil on Friday night through a marathon session of penalties, in the semi-final billed for Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.