Afcon champs Ivory Coast battle past weakened Sweden

Defending Africa Cup of Nations champions the Ivory Coast began their warm-up for the tournament with a hard-fought 2-1 win over a weakened Sweden side in Abu Dhabi.

Sweden, who were only represented by players plying their trade in the Allsvenskan league, took the lead with five minutes left of the first-half when Wilfried Kanon turned the ball into his own net.

But the Elephants were level just six minutes later, as Serge N’Guessan’s block from Linus Wahlqvist flew past Sweden goalkeeper Peter Abahamsson to make it 1-1 at the break.

And in the second half, the Ivory Coast pushed ahead as debutant Wilfried Zaha, on as a substitute, crossed for Giovanni Sio to head in the winner.