Nigeria international Yakubu Aiyegbeni believes the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations holding in Equatorial Guinea will be the best outing for the Elephants of Ivory Coast as he tipped them for the title ahead of Ghana and the host nation.
The Elephants were quarterfinalists at the last edition in 2013 where they lost to the Super Eagles, the eventual winners of the tournament in South Africa.
Ivory Coast, who were 1992 winners when they beat Ghana via penalties in Senegal, have reached the final two other times in 2006 and 2012.
Aiyegbeni told our correspondent that this year’s edition of the tournament might be the last opportunity for Ivory Coast’s golden generation to erase the failure of the past.
“I’ll support any team that play good football and deserve to win. I tip Ivory Coast to win the tournament but it’s not going to be easy for them because Ghana seem to have a good team also,” the Al Rayyan of Qatar striker said.
“They had come close on a number of times but this is their best chance since Nigeria are not featuring (in the tournament).
“Nigeria had the chance to qualify for the tournament but we failed. We have to support those that deserve to be in the tournament.”
But his former teammate, Taye Taiwo, disagreed with him on his favourites to lift the trophy in Equatorial Guinea. The Bursaspor of Turkey defender tipped a North African team to win the tournament.
“Ghana are not doing badly on the continent, but Ivory Coast and Cameroon have good teams too. Ivory Coast have always been unlucky at the Nations Cup,” the former Marseille star said.
“The North African teams won’t do badly at this edition. Tunisia and Algeria have good teams, but I’ll tip Algeria to win the tournament.
“I don’t see South Africa winning it; I was surprised they came to Nigeria to play a 2-2 draw with the Super Eagles. It broke my heart; it wouldn’t have happened (when we were there).”
Ivory Coast will kick of their campaign when they take on Guinea on Tuesday in the first Group D match. They also have Mali and Cameroon to contend with in the group.