Interim Ivory Coast Coach Emerse Fae has said he is not the Special One of Ivory Coast.
The Manager rose to prominence in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosted in his country.
Following the sack of Jean Louis Gasset after 3 group games, the former midfielder was made to step in as the man in the dugout.
Things were almost lost as hopes were dashed in the group stages following 2 consecutive defeats to Nigeria and a huge margin of 4:0 against Equatorial Guinea in the last group game.
Ivory Coast Federation made a bold decision by sacrificing Jean Louis for their compatriot Emerse Fae to take over.
Following the defeat of Zambia to Morocco, Ivory Coast luckily secured qualification to the Round of 16.
Speaking at pre-match press conference ahead of the finals against Nigeria Emerse said “I’m not special, I’m with the team for 2 years, I know the quality the team possess and I don’t have any secret.”
The Coach showed great tenacity in the knockout stages as he introduced Jean Michel Seri as the deep lying and that brought a lot of balance in the midfield.
Besides he gave Max Gradel the opportunity to play part in the knockout stages and his experience was absolutely felt.
His substitutions in the Round of 16 against Senegal and the quarter finals against Mali have been timely especially when Ivory Coast went down by 10 men as they managed to reach semi-finals before DR Congo to set up a clash with Nigeria in the final.
Emerse Fae featured as a player in 2006 in Egypt when Ivory Coast lost in the penalty shootout in the final against host nation.
He will hope to rewrite the wrongs this time as a Coach as he leads his country to win the trophy on home soil.