He led the Elephants to a third African Cup of Nations title. The Ivorian selection was on the verge of elimination when he took charge on January 24, after the resignation of Jean-Louis Gasset. Four days after the victory in the final against Nigeria, on February 11, Emerse Faé looks back on his team’s journey full of twists and turns during the competition. And we are already looking ahead to the next CAN 2025 in Morocco and the World Cup the following year in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
There weren’t too many questions to ask. The team knew me, I have been a member of the staff since June 2022. After the defeat against Equatorial Guinea, after the resignation of the coach, the players understood that they had a part of responsibility. They reacted with pride. I didn’t give big speeches, because I’m not a big talker and there was no real need to motivate the players. They did not want to relive and make the Ivorians relive the humiliation suffered against the Equatorial Guineans. In four days, we mainly worked tactically.
It paid off: we eliminated Senegal, arch-favorite, (1-1, 5-4 on the tabs) after quickly falling behind, then we beat Mali (2-1 after extra time) while we were reduced at ten and trailing in the 73rd minute… It was only in the semi-final against the Democratic Republic of Congo (1-0) and in the final that we won with a certain mastery. Sportingly speaking, it’s not that incomprehensible: Côte d’Ivoire is one of the best African teams and they were playing at home.
I didn’t expect him to leave. It was a difficult moment for the staff and the players, because in addition to being a very good technician, he is a good, honest person, whom we all appreciate. I learned a lot being his deputy. When his resignation was accepted by Idriss Diallo, the president of the Ivorian Federation, and he asked me if I was ready to take over, I did not think. For me, it was a duty. When I joined the staff in 2022, it was planned that I would become a coach later. The resignation of Jean-Louis Gasset accelerated things, but I had not anticipated anything.
I didn’t really worry about it. I didn’t want to put any extra pressure on myself. On the evening of January 24, we learned that we would meet Senegal in the round of 16, I had other things to do than pay attention to rumors. However, I think that the arrival in the middle of the competition of an outside person, certainly competent and familiar with Ivory Coast, but not knowing the players, would have been complicated.
No. As long as you have an honest man in front of you, there are no problems. We knew we could get him back for the round of 16 or the quarterfinals. We had to support him, listen to him, because it’s frustrating for a footballer not to play. But he never tried to rush his return. He would tell us when he felt capable of playing thirty minutes, an hour or more. He is a great professional.
We agree to continue working together, which seems logical to me. I want to continue my mission, nothing else. We will take the time to sort out some contractual and sporting details. I would like to continue to work with the same technical staff, including Guy Demel, who joined us on January 24, and with whom I have had great closeness since the years we played together in the selection. President Diallo is entirely in favor of it.
We will have to discuss it with those who are considering it. I will not have arguments with a player who, physically and mentally, no longer feels capable of taking on both matches with his club and those with the selection. The others, of course, will be selectable based on their club performance.
These are not two objectives, but two obvious facts. We are not the prettiest, we are not the strongest, we have things to improve, we respect everyone, but our new status as African champions requires us to qualify. In March, we will face Argentina in a friendly match in China. This will be an opportunity to come together for a prestigious meeting. But in June we will play against Gabon and Kenya in World Cup qualifying. And it’s going to happen very quickly!
