The Elephants were runners-up in the 2012 edition of the tournament, but a quarter-final exit in 2013 and a disappointing 2014 FIFA World Cup performance appeared to show the beginning of the end for a team dubbed their "golden generation".

Entering the tournament without the retired all-time top goalscorer Didier Drogba and all-time appearances holder Didier Zokora, the changing of the guard appeared to be taking place, but the Ivory Coast still could call upon the likes of Manchester City's Yaya Toure and he had a decisive and devastating role in their victory over one of the tournament surprise packages in DR Congo.

Both sides were struggling to create anything that resembled a clear-cut chance to take the lead in the opening minutes, before Toure intervened, his new club teammate Wilfried Bony lost possession on the edge of the DR Congo area, and the ball broke to the African footballer of the year who hammered an unstoppable shot past the helpless goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba.

DR Congo could have been rocked by Toure's effort, but having come from two goals down in their quarter final for victory they would have been confident their ability to get back into the tie.

Ivory Coast's defender Eric Bailly handed them that opportunity just over a minute after Toure's opener, mistiming his jump and clumsily struck the ball with his hand inside the area, with the resulting penalty dispatched into the corner by Dieumerci Mbokani.

Spectators might have anticipated that the quick equaliser might spur the DR Congo players on, but it was the Ivory Coast who seized control of the game once more, with their Roma winger Gervinho proving to be a big difference between the sides.

His trickery and direct running was proving difficult for the DR Congo defence to contain and he nearly opened the scoring with a header that crashed off the crossbar before being scooped off the line, but he was not to be denied moments later firing coolly into the net following a counter attack.

Gervinho had a key impact on the match and grabbed the Ivory Coast's second goal ©Getty Images



The second-half continued in the same vein as the first, as DR Congo were unable to gain a foothold in the contest and found themselves two goals down for a second consecutive game after ADO Den Haag's Wilfried Kanon nudged in a rebound to make the score 3-1.

Unlike the quarter final DR Congo were unable to mount an unlikely comeback, with the result seeing them bow out of the tournament and means the Ivory Coast are one step away from claiming the title for the first time since 1992.

The Elephants can begin preparations for Sunday's showpiece where they will meet either the winners of tomorrow's semi-final between Ghana and hosts Equatorial Guinea, as the aftermath continues to rumble on after their contentious quarter-final against Tunisia.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) Referees Committee have assessed the performance of Seechum Rajindrapasard, the Mauritian official who awarded the hosts a dubious last gasp penalty, and decided that the referee would be suspended from officiating for six months and have delisted him from their A-list of referees.

Tunisia who were incensed by the decision that contributed to their exit from the tournament have been fined $50,000 (£33,000/€44,000) for aggressive and unacceptable behaviour from their players and staff.

The African governing body have also requested an apology from the Tunisian Federation for "insinuations of bias and lack of ethics against CAF and its officials", threatening if the apology is not received by the end of tomorrow that the country might be banned from the 2017 edition of the tournament.

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