The second of the AFCON 2012 semi finals taking place on Wednesday sees Ivory Coast paired with Mali and the Elephants are a warm order to come out on top.

Ivory Coast are the only one of the semi finalists who have a 100% win record in the tournament so far. Furthermore, they are the only team who have yet to concede a goal in this tournament as they prepare for this semi final in Libreville. The Elephants started with a fairly uninspiring 1-0 win over Sudan and went on to top Group B with further wins over Burkina Faso and Angola, both by a 2-0 scoreline. That set up a quarter final with co hosts Equatorial Guinea which proved to be a one sided contest with two goals from Drogba and one from YaYa Toure sealing a 3-0 win. In all four of their matches so far, Ivory Coast have taken 1-0 lead into the half time interval. They cross the border into Gabon for the first time for this semi final in Libreville which will also be the venue for the final at the weekend.

Mali's route to the semi finals has been far less straight forward but they have been based in Gabon from the start and this is the ground where they came through their quarter final last weekend. They opened up with a 1-0 win over Guinea before losing 2-0 to Ghana. Group C was finely poised going into the third and final game but Mali came from behind to beat Botswana 2-1 and finished as runners up to the Black Stars. That meant a quarter final meeting with co-hosts Gabon and a late equaliser saw Mali take the game into extra time (1-1 in 90 minutes) before holding their nerve in the penalty shoot out. With just four goals so far they have only half the total goals of their opponents here but they are a well organised, well coached side and certainly have plenty of spirit as shown with comebacks in their previous two matches.

These teams met in a warm up game just prior to these finals and Ivory Coast edged it 1-0.

The Betting, To Qualify (any method)

Mali 100/30 Sportingbet

Ivory Coast 1 – 4 World Sports Betting, Hollywood

Match Result (90 minutes)

Mali 7/1 World Sports Betting

Draw 2.95/1 Sportsbet

Ivory Coast 11/20 BetXchange

Selected Others (90 minutes)

Correct Score Ivory Coast to win 1-0, 9/2 BetXchange, World Sports Betting, Ladbrokes

Corrext Score Ivory Coast to win 2-0, 11/2 BetXchange

HT/FT Ivory Coast/Ivory Coast 14/10 BetXchange

HT/FT Draw/Ivory Coast 3/1 Sportsbet

Double Chance Mali/Draw 16/10 Sportsbet, Voltbet, Hollywood

Both teams to score (yes) 16/10 World Sports Betting

Note, odds are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Not all bookmakers had priced up at the time of writing and many more markets are available. Watch out for the option to bet “in play” where available

Analysis

It's hard to get away from Ivory Coast and their HT/FT record will not have gone unnoticed by punters but I think Mali will keep this tight, at least until the break. Alain Giresse has this relatively young Mali side well organised and they will run their socks off for the cause on Wednesday. I'm going to take a chance that Mali will go into the break level but in the end, class will tell and I expect the Ivorians to make the final and I will go with a HT/FT pick and 2-0 to IC in the correct score market.

Bets: HT/FT Draw/Ivory Coast 3/1 Sportsbet

Correct Score Ivory Coast to win 2-0, 11/2 BetXchange

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