Ivory Coast won CAN 2015 after penalty shootout

The drama of the final was created by the two teams after a series of lucky penalty kicks. Goalkeeper Boubacar Barry became the hero for Ivory Coast when he saved the opponent's 11-meter kick and then successfully converted the penalty himself, helping his hometown team win 9-8 in the end.

Before that, it seemed that Ghana had won the Cup early when the first two shots of Ivory Coast both went wide, including the shot that hit the post of Man City new signing Wilfried Bony. However, goalkeeper Barry successfully saved the third penalty kick, helping the "elephants" to regain their spirit. In the fourth round, the score was equalized when Ghana's Frank Acheampong missed his shot.

Barry is perhaps the man who fits the saying "times create heroes". He was a reserve goalkeeper at the age of 35 and only started the final because goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo was injured in the semi-final.

This is the second time Ivory Coast have won the CAN. In 1992, the "elephants" won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time when they defeated Ghana in the final, and the match was also decided after a penalty shootout.

Goalkeeper Barry took the final penalty, bringing home the championship. Photo: Reuters.

The final was very tense as both teams repeatedly fouled each other, while few notable moments were created. The referee blew 53 fouls during the match. Ivory Coast repeatedly committed fouls, receiving five yellow cards.

In 120 minutes, no goals were scored. The number of shots on target was only one, belonging to Ivory Coast. However, Ghana was the team with more dangerous moves when the ball from the "black star" player's foot found the goal of goalkeeper Barry twice.

The stars expected before the match such as Bony, Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast) or Asamoah Gyan, Ayew (Ghana) did not leave any mark.

Yaya Toure received the championship cup on behalf of Ivory Coast. Photo: Reuters.

Deciding the championship by penalty shootout is becoming a CAN tradition. In the last 12 finals, six times the match had to go to penalties. Of those, Ivory Coast lost twice.

French coach Herve Renard became the first person to win the Africa Cup of Nations twice with different nations. In 2012, he also led Zambia to the Africa Cup of Nations.

According to VNE