Kalou gives Ivory Coast 1-0 win over Nigeria

A second-half goal by Salomon Kalou earned Ivory Coast a 1-0 victory over Nigeria in a clash of heavyweights at the African Nations Cup yesterday.

The Chelsea striker netted on 66 minutes against the run of play to give the Elephants a dream start in Group B at the Essipon stadium.

Both teams struggled to play lively football in scorching heat, with the temperature reaching 35 degrees Celsius.

Nigeria had the best chances with Olympique Marseille defender Taye Taiwo hitting Boubacar Barry's bar with a powerful free kick after 14 minutes.

In the group's other match, Frederic Kanoute scored with a penalty as Mali laboured to a 1-0 victory against Benin. The game started 12 minutes late due to power failure.

In the opening match of the day from Group A, a hat-trick from Soufiane Alloudi inside half an hour ensured an easy 5-1 win for Morocco over Namibia.

The rising star of Moroccan football netted twice in the opening five minutes in a shocking start to Namibia's second Nations Cup appearance - a decade after the first.

Alloudi completed his hat-trick with a rare headed goal in the 28th minute after Tarik Sektioui had teased the porous Namibia defence to provide the prefect cross.

Namibia, despite the early jitters, did well to fight back to 2-1 when midfielder Brian Brendell scored in the 24th minute but were thoroughly outplayed by a creative Morocco team.

A penalty by Sektioui made it 4-1 before halftime and substitute Moncef Zerka got his first international goal three minutes after coming on as a sub in the 70th minute.

Morocco joined Ghana on three points following the host nation's 2-1 win over Guinea in the tournament opener on Sunday.