Elephants, Lions in do-or-die clash

Ivory Coast will hope to finally register their first victory in the 2015 CAF African Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea when they clash against Cameroon on Wednesday night at Estadio de Malabo.

The match kicks off at 8pm (SA time). All the teams (Mali, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Guinea) in Group D are without a win and are tied on two points following 1-1 draws and the final matches are must-wins for these African giants.

Although the Elephants will go into this clash without striker Gervinho, who was red-carded against the National Elephants of Guinea in their opening match, Max Gradel is expected to solve the Elephants' scoring problems upfront.

Coach Herve Renard will have to dig deep to solve his team’s lacklustre showing in the 30th edition of the African showpiece as they had to come back to equalise in their their two previous matches.

On the other hand, the Indomitable Lions will have to also find a way to penetrate the Ivorian defence manned by the likes of Kolo Toure and Siaka Tiene for them to secure the three points and seal their qualification for the knockout stage.

Although captain Stephane Mbia made his return in their previous tie against Guinea, coach Volker Finke will hope for more inspiration from the Sevilla FC man.

The Indomitable Lions have been absent in the continental tournament since 2010 and a first-round exit would be seen as disastrous. Another factor to motivate them will be the chance to go all out and eliminate their 2014 Fifa World Cup disappointment in Brazil.