It was all doom and gloom when Ivory Coast lost to Equatorial Guinea 4-0 at home at the back of losing 1-0 to Nigeria.
They looked to be going out of the tournament and sacked their head coach, Jean-Loius Gasset.
It was all over on paper until the FA asked Emerse Fae to take over in the interim but by a stroke of luck, Ivory Coast made it to the knockout as one of the best-placed teams.
Now The Drama!!!!
The Ivorian FA went behind Emerse Fae to meet and beg Herve Renard, their former manager who led them to the AFCON trophy in 2014.
The only problem is that Herve Renard is the current manager of the French National Team and out of desperation, the Ivorian FA asked to hire him on LOAN to coach Ivory Coast for the remainder of the tournament which was turned down by the French Football Federation.
With their tails between their legs, they came back to Emerse Fae.
Emerse Fae, a former footballer who played for Nantes, Reading, and Nice has no prior experience managing a national team.
His only experience was managing the Nice Under 17 and Under 21 when he was obtaining his coaching badges and later became the Ivory Coast Under-23 manager before becoming the assistant to now sacked manager.
His inexperience didn’t faze him as he did the “Unthinkable” against Senegal in his first match in charge.
He dropped 5 key players including influential Ivory Coast vice-captain, former AC Milan and Barcelona player, Frank Kessie.
He didn’t stop there, he immediately removed Ivory Coast’s best player against Senegal, Seku Fofana was tired and made substitutions that gave AFCON favourites a match, taking them to penalties and defeating them.
It was a MASTERSTROKE from an “apprentice”.
And he has continued with that against Mali, he changed his starting lineup again, this time starting Kessie who impressed after coming on against Senegal.
Even when they got a penalty against them in the 16th minute, Mali missed it.
They were reduced to 10 men in the 43rd minute and went a goal down in the 71st minute but his management of the game has to be applauded.
They equalized in the 90th minute and went ahead to knock Mali out by scoring in the 120-minute + 2 added minutes.
Like a Phoenix, they’ve risen from the ashes of elimination and have marched into the Semi-Finals of the AFCON like a dominant elephant.
There is a new sense of belief in the team and they now believe it’s possible.
Sometimes, all the rookie needs is a chance to showcase how good he can be.
A CHANCE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!!
@Sports_Dokita2
When you get that life-transforming chance, don’t throw it away, give it your all!!!
Congrats to the Elephants of Ivory Coast.
Congrats to Emerse Fae.
Ivory Coast Are Rocking!!!!
THIS IS THE BEST AFCON EVER!!!!
#AFCON2023 #CAF #NFF #Osimhen
