Who could have imagined them there after their group defeat against Equatorial Guinea (0-4)?
Very close to the elimination of its African Cup of Nations, Côte d'Ivoire achieved the feat of eliminating Senegal, big favorite and CAN title holder this Monday (1-1, 5-4 tab), in the round of 16.
An evening concluded at the end of the night in the Charles Konan Banny stadium in Yamoussoukro, but which continued until the end in the streets of Abidjan.
Massed in front of the Palace of Culture in the capital, thousands of fans exulted at the final whistle and had fun well into the night with songs, shouts of joy, horn concerts and vuvuzela.
The images of joy at the moment of Franck Kessié's winning shot went around the world on social networks.
“A ghost cannot be afraid”
“When you come out of a match against Equatorial Guinea where you were beaten up in front of your audience, in the stadium that bears the name of the president, we really felt this frustration and this humiliation.
It’s as if we were the sellouts of the nation,” recalled the former FC Barcelona midfielder speaking to BeIN Sports.
The rest is then history.
A first equalizer on a penalty in the 86th minute after an intervention by the VAR, before returning the cover in the 5th and final shooter of the session.
“After the Morocco match we were drafted and I think we had nothing more to lose.
And as they say, a ghost cannot be afraid,” added the Ah-Ahli player.
We don't think that 🇨🇮 will sleep tonight!
🥳 #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/A0xmb4oGAF
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 29, 2024
An ode to joy also for his coach Emerse Faé, who arrived during the competition after the departure of Jean-Louis Gasset, at the end of the group stage.
“I asked to find my Elephants, they were warriors,” greeted the new boss of Ivory Coast.
Narrowly drafted, the “Elephants” will challenge in the quarter the winner of the match between Mali and Burkina Faso, which is played on Tuesday.
Emerse Faé simply asked his men to play match after match: “We eliminated Senegal but above all we found a state of mind.
We've come from so far that we're not going to catch fire!
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