Ivory Coast will chase a second win in Group E of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations when they face Sierra Leone at the Japoma Stadium on Sunday, kick-off at 16h00 GMT.
The Elephants opened their campaign in Cameroon with a narrow 1-0 over Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday in Douala, with Max-Alain Gradel’s fifth minute goal securing three points to see the West Africans on top of the pool.
Ivory Coast will hope their stars Wilfried Zaha, Sebastien Haller and Maxwel Cornet show more hunger for goals, though to be fair they came up against a resilient Leone Stars defence.
The Elephants coach Patrice Beaumelle admitted his side struggled against a lowly ranked Equatorial Guinea and expect his charges to come out with guns blazing in the second match against Sierra Leone.
“I really liked the first 15 minutes with the fluidity, simplicity and the collective put forward. We did not continue to play like this, it allowed our opponent to believe in it and to deploy his game,” said the Ivory Coast coach after the opening game.
“It was difficult but we will hold back the victory and this group will be difficult until the end, Sierra Leone are not stooges, they deserve their qualification for this competition.”
Sierra Leone come into the match occupying third spot in Group E, having held the defending champions Algeria to a goalless stalemate on Wednesday.
The result means the Leone Stars are mathematically within touching distance of a place in the knockout rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Sierra Leone coach John Keister will want his side to play on the counter attack against Ivory Coast, drawing their opponents in before using pace and width in response.
Ivory Coast were almost caught on the break a couple of times in the opening game by Equatorial Guinea, who lack the skill and speed in attack that Sierra Leone can call upon, as they seek for maximum points.
Ivory Coast have confidence, momentum and experience at this stage, but they will find Sierra Leone a far more difficult proposition.
Meanwhile, this is the seventh meeting between the two nations with the most recent one being a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier that ended 0-0 in Lagos.
