After heading to into the tie as unlikely contenders, Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi praised his side for a spirited display in their 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations quaterfinal victory over Ivory Coast in Phokeng, near Rustenburg, on Sunday evening.
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A goal in either half from Emmanuel Emenike and Sunday Mba booked the Super Eagles their spot in the semifinals while the Ivorians crashed out after entering the tournament as favourites once again.
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'' I want to sincerely thank my players for everything they did today '', Keshi said.
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'' The players showed character. It's the kind of character that I know we have in Nigeria. We alwaysfight, fight, fight ''.
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'' When Ivory Coast equalised, we tried to defend well and then we worked our tactics, we pushed our players to play and we scored again ''.
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'' Before we played against Ivory Coast, nobody gave us a chance, maybe 20 percent of people gave us a chance that we could do something ''.