A shipwreck, a national catastrophe, an immeasurable disappointment… In the heat of the moment, it is difficult to put into words the defeated faces of the spectators at the Alassane-Ouattara stadium in Abidjan. Slapped 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast faltered this Monday evening, and found itself almost at the door of its own CAN this Monday.
Sadness flooded in: that of the spectators as well as that of the players, some of whom left the pitch in tears. Anger also manifested itself at the Abidjan Olympic stadium, in the form of clashes in the stands and throwing bottles at stewards.
“I don’t think it’s about the state of mind,” declared Ivorian coach Jean-Louis Gasset on Canal + Africa. When I see the players in the locker room crying it hurts me. We tried, we gave everything, I think. When you have a scenario like that, there’s not much to say or do.”
2-0 winners over modest Guinea-Bissau at the start of the competition, Jean-Louis Gasset’s players were surprised by Nigeria 1-0 in the 2nd match of Group A. Pass again. But this Monday, when it was a question of securing qualification for the final phase, the Elephants completely fell apart in an improbable scenario.
3rd in Group A with three points and a goal difference of -3, Côte d’Ivoire, ranked among the favorite nations eight days ago, is reduced to praying to finish among the four best thirds invited to the round of 16.
“It’s a nightmare,” Gasset said again. We had prepared this match well, we started well, we had possession, we had opportunities. We wanted to force things and for two games, we haven’t been able to score. (…) The adversary gave us a lesson in realism. Obligatory (we always believe it). (But) when you wait for the results of others, it’s not a good sign…”
4 – Ivory Coast suffered its biggest defeat in the African Cup of Nations against Equatorial Guinea, the Elephants had never lost a CAN match by a margin of 4 goals before this evening. Rout. #CAN2023 pic.twitter.com/n9rbVcV9VU
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) January 22, 2024
In white for once, the Orange nevertheless confiscated the ball from the Equatorial Guineans in the first period, without ever managing to completely adjust the sights however. The clearest Ivorian opportunity consisted of Pépé’s face-to-face encounter with the opposing goalkeeper, without success (30th).
Nsue’s double
While Guinea had largely been deprived of the ball, Nsue scored shortly before the break, exploiting a dribble from Akapo on the right (1-0, 42nd). After the break, the Ivorians thought they would equalize twice, through Sangaré, then Krasso. But the two scorers (legitimately) found themselves offside, respectively in the 45th + 1, then the 67th.
After which, the decline began for Seko Fofana and his teammates. Ganet doubled the lead for Guinea with a free kick (2-0, 73rd). Stunned, the Elephants went down on one knee and were unable to get up, letting their opponents score twice more, notably by Nsue (3-0, 75th), top scorer of the tournament with five goals.
“We call it the disaster scenario”
“In life, there are nightmare matches. We concede a goal one minute before half-time on the opponent’s only opportunity. We had control of the game, the chances, the opportunities and we came in 0-1 at half-time. It’s already a little hard,” added Jean-Louis Gasset at a press conference after the match.
“In the second half, it’s the same scenario, we are dominant, the chances arrive, the goals are scored then refused. We call it the disaster scenario,” he continued. Asked about his future at the head of the selection, Jean-Louis Gasset indicated that he would have a “discussion” with the president of the Ivorian federation, Yacine Idriss Diallo.
