"I told the players this morning we had to choose between two different paths, heaven or hell," coach Vahid Halilhodzic told reporters. "A draw or a defeat would have been a catastrophe.
"The fans, the whole nation would not have forgiven us. You can't imagine how tremendous the pressure was before the game."
"Scoring two goals when we were down to 10 men shows a great team is hatching," added Halilhodzic.
Drogba said: "It was difficult for us but we stayed compact."
"They (Ivory Coast) were more experienced," said coach Milovan Rajevac.
Four members of last October's under-20 World Cup-winning squad started the game for Ghana, who are in Angola without experienced defenders John Mensah and John Pantsil.
"Quality and experience was the key of Ivory Coast's team. For us now it is, to be or not to be," said Rajevac.
"We must do our best to prepare for this game (against Burkina Faso) and win it."
