Chelsea star Didier Drogba blasted the Ivory Coast into the African Nations Cup final here on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Nigeria.
Drogba proved the big difference between the two west African countries when he pounced on a loose ball off a cross by Koffi Ndri from inside his own half which Joseph Enakarhire misjudged to open the scoring a minute after the break.
The Elephants reached their second Nations Cup final after they won their only title in 1992 in Senegal.
They will now clash on Friday with the winner of the other semi-final between hosts Egypt and Senegal later Tuesday.
The first half failed to generate excitement as both teams adopted a cautious approach.
Ivory Coast took the kick-off and within the first six minutes took the game to their opponents. Ndri fired a shot after just two minutes and four minutes later Vincent Enyeama palmed for a corner a freekick by Drogba after Emmanuel Eboue had been brought down around the Nigerian box.
In the 11th minute Yaya Toure saw his shot from outside the Super Eagles area miss by little. But almost immediately Nigeria responded through Obafemi Martins but the Inter striker was slow to take advantage as he was dispossessed of the ball inside the box.
From this point, the Eagles appeared to have finally found their feet and were beginning to look dangerous when they went forward. In the 24th minute Abdoulaye Meite brought down Nwankwo Kanu around the box but Taye Taiwo's freekick came off the Ivorian wall.
Long balls by Ivory Coast failed to find top target Drogba as both teams continued to play cautiously.
Paris Saint Germain striker Bonaventure Kalou's cheeky kick with his back to goal is held by Enyeama on 33 minutes and eventually both teams went into the dressing goalless.
But Drogba came out firing in the second half and after the Super Eagles went behind they added more urgency to their play with Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha coming on in the 53rd minute in place of youngster Mikel Obi, who seemed overwhelmed by the occassion.
Okocha was denied in the 62nd minute by a diving save by goalkeeper Jean-Jacque Tizie, who got a hand to his goal-bound shot from outside the area to push the ball for a corner.
Nigeria midfielder Sani Kaita was brought down by Didier Zokora in the 78th minute as pressure continued to mount on the Elephants but Nigeria failed to convert for the equaliser as the Ivory Coast held on for victory.