After guiding Ivory Coast to lift the 2023 AFCON trophy, Ivory Coast manager Emerse fae has disclosed that his team had no option than to win the AFCON after they were given a second chance in the competition.
The Elephants were brutally hammered in their final group game by Equatorial Guinea by 4-0 leaving them with just 3 points in the group and third on the table.
The Ivorians were given a second chance to the round of 16 of the competition after Morocco beat Zambia in the final Group F clash.
Morocco’s win gave Ivory Coast the chance to qualify as one of the best 3rd placed sides in the tournament.
The Orange and Whites capitalised on the chance handed them by Morocco to make it to the final of the tournament and eventually won the trophy.
This feat, according to Fae, was achieved because he told the players they couldn’t afford to disappoint the country for a second time.
“The first word I told the players was that we had crossed the final stage through the small door, and God had given us a second chance, and we must adhere to it, and we must not lose that opportunity, otherwise no one will forgive us, and we must improve our image in front of our people,” he told Channel One in Egypt in an interview with Karim Ramzy.
Fae, on Monday, has been confirmed the substantive manager of the Ivory Coast national team.