David Fofana was used as a late substitute in Ivory Coast Under-23s’ third group game at the Toulon Tournament. He was on the pitch to enjoy a victory but ultimately his team missed out narrowly on progress to the last-four stage of the prestigious youth tournament.
It was a tight group going into the final round of games, with all four sides having the possibility of qualifying. The Ivorians managed to overcome Japan by two goals to one to finish on five points.
The winning goal came in the second half after Japan had cancelled out their opponents’ early opener before the interval. Fofana, who had captained the Ivory Coast team in the first two games, came on with 80 minutes played.
He had to wait until the later game between Panama and Morocco concluded to find out if his side topped the group. The result was 1-1 but with an extra point awarded for success in a penalty shoot-out at the end, Panana moved onto six points and claimed the semi-final spot.
Ivory Coast also missed out on the semi-final place reserved for the best runner-up, so they instead contest a fifth/sixth place play-off on Friday.