Nigeria's group stage opponent and hosts of the soon-to-start African Cup of Nations, Cote D'Ivoire made a big statement of their intent after whitewashing Sierra Leone in a pre-AFCON match on Saturday, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.
The Elephants eased pass the Leon Stars 5-1 at the newly built 20,000-seater Laurent Pokou Stadium.
Diomand Othman opened score in the 18th minute, Frank Kessie doubled the lead in the 35th minute before Jonathan Bamba made it 3-0 3 minutes later as the first ended with a comfortable lead for the Orange Boys.
Jeremie Boga picked it up from where the hosts left it after he added the 4th goal just 3 minutes into the restart of the game.
Amani Lazare put the icing on the cake 6 minutes before regulation time to make it 5-0. However, the Sierra Leoneans pulled one back with 4 minutes left.
The goal was only a consolation as the score ended with an emphatic victory for Cote D'Ivoire with the same score line as 2014 AFCON qualifier between the two sides.
Cote D'Ivoire are in group A alongside Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau. They play Guinea-Bissau at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan on January 13 before facing the Super Eagles of Nigeria in their second match.
Uche Dozie