Côte d'Ivoire seek redemption in clash with Senegal in last-16 at Cup of Nations
Contrasting cultures and form will clash on Monday night in Yamoussoukro when hosts Côte d'Ivoire play the defending champions Senegal for a place in the last eight of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
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Senegal swept imperiously through their pool beating Gambia 3-0, Cameroon 3-1 and Guinea 2-0.
After overcoming Guinea Bissau 2-0 in the opening game of the tournament, the Ivorians floundered. They lost 1-0 to Nigeria and 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea - their worst home defeat.
Jean-Louis Gasset, the head coach, departed hours before Côte d'Ivoire gained a place in the knockout stages as one of the four best third-placed teams as his bosses at the Ivorian football federation (Fif) scrabbled for a replacement.
An attempt failed to draft in their 2015 title-winning coach Hervé Renard “on loan” from the France women’s team for the rest of the Cup of Nations. Renard's employers - the Federations football francaise - rebuffed the idea.
Change
Instead Fif chiefs promoted the former Côte d'Ivoire midfielder Emerse Faé from his role as assistant coach and anointed him interim head.
Senegal incarnate stablility. Head coach Aliou Cissé has been in place since 2015 and has led them to a runners-up spot in 2019 and the crown in 2021.
On the eve of the last-16 match, the 47-year-old former Senegal international highlighted the departures of traditional powerhouses such as Algeria, Tunisia and Ghana after the first phase.
"We qualified with nine points and the opponent with three points," said Cissé.
"This does not matter. Now a new competition has begun. Côte d'Ivoire remains a major team in Africa.
"They have good players. The defeat in their last two matches remain just an accident and they will show another performance in front of their fans.”
Match
Senegal were clinical against 10-man Gambia and displayed resilience to weather a late Cameroon fightback before hitting them on the counter to score their third goal.
"The Côte d'Ivoire national team is good," said Senegal defender Moussa Nyakhate.
"They have players with good potential and we respect them a lot. We have a wonderful group of veterans who are mentoring the young players," added the 27-year-old who plies his trade domestically at Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League.
A packed house is expected at the 20,000-seat Stade Charles Konan Banny for the match which will inaugurate Faé's senior coaching career.
"I know the group well as I have been with them for a year and a half," said the 40-year old.
"The players are motivated and we will enter the match with confidence ... a lot of confidence.
"Côte d'Ivoire will remain Côte d'Ivoire even though we did not perform well in the group stage.
"If we ask Senegal which team they want to face in the last-16, they will choose another team that occupied the best third place other than Côte d'Ivoire."
The victor will take on the winner of the last-16 tie in Abidjan between Cape Verde and second phase debutants Mauritania.
"It's extraordinary what we're going through," said Mauritainia boss Amir Abdou.
"I've told my players to give eveything and to believe right until the very end and that's what they've been doing.
"There have been some incredible surprises during this tournament and that's what has been inspiring us."
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