大象传媒

After a dismal start, the footballers and new coach of the Ivory Coast national team pulled off a remarkable sporting redemption to win the Africa Cup of Nations.

Former Ivorian player, Emerse Fae, was called on by the nation鈥檚 football federation to assist Jean-Louis Gasset in June 2022. Then in a startling move the federation sacked Mr Gasset during the tournament, after the team known as The Elephants were humiliated in their final group game, losing 4-nil against Equatorial Guinea.

Fae was appointed the new coach the day of his 40th birthday and managed to turn around the fortunes of the Ivorian national squad. In his first broadcast interview since winning at Afcon, Newsday's Sara Menai asked him about the tournament and the atmosphere in Abidjan after the final.

"For Ivory Coast to lose 4-nil to Equatorial Guinea was hard to accept... but we did all our best to go to the final. We did not want to give up this second chance that God had given us. To do this in my country is beautiful."

(Image: Emerse Fae; Credit: EPA)

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