Ivory Coast vs. Algeria: Date, Time, Live
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We are down to the final eight teams in the Africa Cup of Nations 2015, with one of the most open tournaments in recent memory.
The competition is beautifully poised with all the sides in the knockouts feeling they have a shot at glory.The Ivory Coast leapfrogged their way into the quarter-finals after their slim 1-0 win against a disappointing Cameroon.
Algeria placed second in Group C after a fabulous strike from Nabil Bentaleb helped his side beat Senegal by 2-0.
Sunday Alamba/Associated Press
When: Sunday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m. GMT/ 2:30 p.m. ET
Where: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
TV Info: British Eurosport (UK only) BeIN Sports (U.S. only)
Live Stream: Eurosport Player (UK only) BeIN Sports Connect (U.S. only)
Yaya Toure Problems For Ivory Coast
Sunday Alamba/Associated Press
The former Barcelona player has been largely anonymous during AFCON 2015 for the Ivory Coast as rumours swirl around about his future with his club, per Sky Sports.
Toure has been linked with a move to Inter Milan to rejoin former boss Roberto Mancini and it is difficult to know whether the player has had his head turned or not.
City have themselves been making odd statements about the player, with coach Manuel Pellegrini professing his side can cope without his presence, as tweeted by the club's official feed:
Sunday Alamba/Associated Press
However, despite the strange body language, Yaya has performed this season to a good standard.
He has hit seven goals in his 18 Premier League appearances this term, per WhoScored.com, but he has failed to register a strike or assist for his country during the Africa Cup of Nations.
This has led football writer Jonathan Wilson to surmise the player has had a less productive tournament than his more unfashionable brother, Kolo:
Alex Livesey/Getty Images
The one major concern for Ivory Coast is the form of Yaya Toure, who has lolloped about without great success, trying to link the front of midfield to the two strikers and has been substituted twice.
Max Gradel has been rather more successful than him in that linking role, scoring the equaliser against Mali before hitting the winner against Cameroon with a vicious swerving shot.
The official line is that all is well, but Toure, who is usually extremely approachable, has marched through the mixed zone after each of Ivory Coast’s last two games without stopping. After the Cameroon game he made a point of shouting there was no problem as he walked through, which of course rather suggested there was.
Sunday Alamba/Associated Press
On his day, Yaya is the best midfielder of his type in the world. No one can drive through the centre of the park with the ball attached to his feet with the sheer power he possesses.
He has been key for City and his country for many years but there is a feeling he might be on the slide, in terms of his impact.
At 31 years old, you would expect Yaya to still have plenty in the tank but the current conception of the player seems to suggest his best days might be passing him by.