Ivory Coast hit back to hammer Zambia in Africa Cup warm-up

Johannesburg (AFP) – Ivory Coast recovered from conceding an early goal to trounce Zambia 4-1 on Wednesday in the final warm-up match for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Jonathan Kodjia and Jean-Michael Seri scored in Abu Dhabi to give the Ivorians a 2-1 half-time lead after Fashion Sakala had converted a penalty for non-qualifiers Zambia. 

Maxwell Cornet increased the lead on 57 minutes and a late goal from free agent Wilfried Bony completed an emphatic victory for the two-time African champions.

Ivory Coast had defeated the Comoros and lost to Uganda in their other warm-up matches for the tournament, which kicks off on Friday when Egypt play Zimbabwe in Cairo. 

It was the third outing for Zambia against qualifiers for the African competition — they lost narrowly to defending champions Cameroon and defeated Morocco before facing the Ivorians.

Angola cancelled a warm-up fixture against fellow qualifiers South Africa in Cairo, citing a lack of preparations.