Everything started well for Ivory Coast in their CAN with a great win against Guinea-Bissau (2-0). But this victory did not particularly silence the critics, on the contrary. Jean-Louis Gasset, who was widely criticized in the country, was unable to reassure his team despite his team's recent results. And this Monday, in their last meeting against Equatorial Guinea, the Elephants had no margin for error. After the defeat against Nigeria, it was absolutely necessary to get points in order not to come closer to elimination in the group phase. But there was absolutely nothing shining in Ivory Coast, quite the opposite, and this game turned into a nightmare.
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Ivory Coast, quickly punished by a goal from Nsué, completely collapsed and conceded three more goals for a heavy defeat (0-4). During the game, after conceding the second goal, the players gave up completely, while Kouamé, who had just missed an inevitable chance, almost burst into tears on the bench. This home humiliation was the final straw and the Ivorian crowd left the stadium before the end of the game, meaning the team could have conceded even more goals.
Read CAN 2023, Ivory Coast: Players still stuck in stadium
Ivory Coast has completely collapsed
At the final whistle, the players had to be accompanied by stadium security in a tense atmosphere so as not to fear any riots. Even before the end of the game, some fans had tried to enter the pitch and, under the eyes of a shocked Didier Drogba, had multiplied the throwing of bottles at the Ivorian players. At the Canal+ Africa microphone, Jean-Louis Gasset, who was unable to get the job done despite an XXL workforce, appeared completely dejected. “You said it, it's a nightmare, we had prepared this game well, we started the game well, we had possession and chances. We've been trying to force the lead for two games and haven't managed to score a goal. And the smallest chance is a goal for the opponent. We attacked, we had the chances, we had a disallowed goal and a counterattack, that was really a nightmare,” he said initially.
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Laurent Blanc's former assistant was unable to explain his side's performance and appears pessimistic about qualification. “But the players weren’t tense. The start of the game was exactly what we wanted. It was the same against Nigeria. We didn't score. In football you have to be efficient and tonight the opposition gave us a lesson in realism. The qualification? We definitely believe it, we won one out of three games. But if you wait for other teams' results, that's never a good sign.” But despite this terrible defeat, Ivory Coast, with the best third rule, is still not eliminated. She can still go in the top four of the third draft. For this we have to expect a draw for Ghana against Mozambique, a win for Morocco against Zambia and another poor performance for Cameroon against Gambia. So there is still hope for the elephants, but it is difficult to recover from this great disappointment…
Bar. 01/22/2024 9:03 p.m. Updated on 01/23/2024 12:58 a.m