Afcon’s unlikely semi-finalists carry weight of history

Nigeria and Ivory Coast start favourites over South Africa and DR Congo on Wednesday but this has been a tournament of remarkable upsets.

OLE: Ivory Coast soccer fans celebrate on a street in Bouake, Ivory Coast after Ivory Coast won the African Cup of Nations quarter final soccer. AP Photo/Sunday Alamba.

A tournament of extraordinary drama has thrown up two semi-finals that each match one of the continent’s current giants against a team that has distant memories of glory.

Neither South Africa nor Democratic Republic of the Congo arrived at the Africa Cup of Nations with especially elevated hopes but on Wednesday they face Nigeria and the hosts Ivory Coast respectively for a place in the final.