CAIRO, July 1 (Reuters) – Ivory Coast were made to struggle by rank outsiders Namibia before winning 4-1 to reach the last 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
Max Alain Gradel and Geoffroy Serey Die scored either side of halftime for the Elephants before Namibia, who missed two early chances to take a shock lead, pulled one back when Joslyn Kamatuka pounced on a mistake by goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohou.
Wilfried Zaha and Maxwel Cornet added two more in the last 10 minutes to give the scoreline a flattering look on another baking Cairo evening.
Twice champions Ivory Coast finished second in Group D with six points from three games while Namibia ended bottom after losing all their matches. Morocco topped the group with nine points after their 1-0 win over South Africa who finished third with three. (Reporting by Brian Homewood, editing by Ed Osmond)