In Libreville, Gabon, there will be a clash between Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and a certain Cedric Kante of Mali.

The battle between the Chelsea striker and the Mali defender promises to be a fascinating not to say crucial one, with both players pivotal to their respective teams' fortunes. Drogba's role in the Ivorians' march to the semi-finals has been significant.

In the first round the Chelsea forward produced the only goal of the game in their first match against Sudan, and set up Chelsea teammate Salomon Kalou for the opener against Burkina Faso. Like so many of the Elephants' star-studded squad, he boasts invaluable big match sangfroid, as he showed in the quarterfinals when he responded to missing a penalty by scoring twice against the Nzalang Nacional of Equatorial Guinea.

Despite their four impressive victories, with eight goals scored and none conceded, the Ivorians have been asked to keep their feet firmly on the ground by head coach, Francois Zahoui.

Reports filtering from their base at the Hotel Agondjé 1 in Libreville indicate that the Elephants have refused to let their success go to their heads and are focused on their crucial Orange AFCON 2012 semi-final against Mali on Wednesday, February 8 2012.

“Do not yield to the praise and flattery. We will get our victory on the field,” warned Zahoui.

And to be sure that the message was understood, the coach took the liberty of opening up some old but still painful wounds. “He who has already been burned knows the score. You had the same experience in 2006, 2008 and 2010,” he reminded his troops.

Mali captain Kante, is like his Ivorian foe, a national veteran, his rock solid stewardship of Mali's defence, an eye catching feature of the Eagles' journey to the last four. The 32-year-old, who joined Greek side Panathinaikos in 2009, was born in France but opted to play for the country of his parents' birth.

He made his international debut in 2006, and even got on the scoring sheet here when converting Mali's third spot kick in the penalty shootout quarter-finals win over Gabon. In the absence of Mali stars Mahamadou Diarra, Momo Sissoko and Frederic Kanoute, Kante has, with Seydou Keita, assumed greater responsibilities. On his strong shoulders rest the hopes of a nation.

In Bata, Equatorial Guinea, there will be a faceoff between Ghana’s striker, Asamoah Gyan and Zambia’s keeper, Kennedy Mweene. Confidence is key for a striker, and Asamoah Gyan has it aplenty. The United Arab Emirates-based forward is enjoying himself at the 2012 AFCON.

Against Mali, the 25-year-old was shackled by his markers until conjuring up a superb free kick to spark the Black Stars' 2-0 win. And he was key to Ghana's' second goal when his back-heel set up Andre Ayew.

He has come up with important goals for his country at the 2010 World Cup finals, despite missing the last minute penalty against Uruguay in the quarter-finals and the 2010 AFCON where Ghana were beaten finalists. "I have been the country’s lone striker for the past six years, it shows how great I am," he said without the slightest trace of humour last week in Bata.

Gyan's goal-seeking skills face a stern test with charismatic Kennedy Mweene, keeping goal for the Copper Bullets. Mweene, just nine years old at the time of the April 27 1993 Zambian team's air crash off the coast of Gabon, told Agence France Press, AFP, in January 2012 he and his teammates were coming to the Nations Cup to "put the souls of our fallen heroes to rest".

Mweene, who plays for South African Premiership outfit Free State Stars, has captained Zambia frequently. The first choice keeper since his debut in 2004 is an old Nations Cup hand, appearing in the 2004, 2006 and 2008 editions. He produced a match-winning save when he skilfully stopped an Equatorial Guinea shot in the 1-0 win that left his team as the Group D winners.