John Obi Mikel has won a $5,000 bet against his former Chelsea teammate, Salomon Kalou after Nigeria ousted Cote d'Ivoire from the Afcon in Rustenburg on Sunday.
Nigeria's Super Eagles edged their Ivorian counterparts, the Elephants, 2-1 in a quarterfinal match at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.
Before the game, Mikel and Kalou had entered into an individual bet that their teams hold the bragging rights to win the clash of the heavyweights.
Kalou, now with French Ligue 1 outfit, Lille Metropole, has kept to the bargain of the bet.
"It was a very good game with Nigeria and they truly deserved to win. They started the game very well and scored at the right time. Now I've fulfilled my part to him (Mikel)," said 27-year-old Kalou.
On the other hand, Chelsea midfielder, Mikel, has said the Super Eagles worked hard to stop pre-tournament favourites, the Elephants.
"We are very happy with our achievement. A big congratulations to Ivory Coast for their achievement so far. We knew that they are a good team so if we were able to work together and play for each other on the pitch, we could stop them playing. And that's exactly what we have done," said the 25-year-old Nigerian midfielder.
Nigeria will play Mali in the semifinals at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Wednesday.
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