Gradel gets Elephants charging as as Renard says tourney has now begun
JOY AND PAIN. Cote d’Ivoire’s midfielder Cheick Doukoure (right) celebrates next to Cameroon’s defender Jerome Guihoata after they won their Group D match in Malabo on Wednesday. AFP PHOTO |
What you need to know:
- “If you don’t get through with a team like Cameroon or the Ivory Coast or Senegal you get the finger pointed at you.
- Against Algeria, the Ivorians will be looking for revenge for a dramatic 3-2 defeat after extra time when the sides met in the last eight in Angola in 2010.
- But in the end such a lottery will only concern Guinea and Mali, whose 1-1 draw in Mongomo ensured they will need a lucky dip to see who advances along with the Ivorians.
MALABO
Cote d’Ivoire coach Herve Renard said the real Africa Cup of Nations has now started for his team after a 1-0 win against Cameroon on Wednesday took them into the quarter-finals.
The Elephants can look forward to a last-eight showdown with Algeria after Max-Alain Gradel’s first-half strike secured a 1-0 win against the Indomitable Lions and clinched first place in Group D on Wednesday.
“For a team like this the Africa Cup of Nations begins in the quarter-finals because to go out before is a failure,” said the Frenchman, whose team survived where other fancied sides such as Cameroon and Senegal have failed.
“If you don’t get through with a team like Cameroon or the Ivory Coast or Senegal you get the finger pointed at you.
“The Algeria game will be very difficult — another one after a really tough group — so there you go the competition begins now.”
The Elephants have improved after a sluggish start that saw them play out 1-1 draws with both Guinea and Mali, and Renard added: “I said before this game that it’s not necessary in a Cup of Nations to start too quickly because it’s a very difficult competition and with players like this they are ready to compete and they love games like this.
“When you play Cameroon you don’t have to try to find motivation especially when we lost 4-1 to them in September (in qualifying).”
Renard saw captain Yaya Toure come off late on after taking a knock in the second half and will hope the Manchester City man recovers in good time for the meeting with an Algeria side considered by many as favourites ahead of the competition.
He added: “I think we showed everything you need to win a competition.
“All the teams in the last eight will want to get to the final — we are only three steps from the title.
“We do this job to win. We won’t be happy if we lose in the semi-finals or even in the final, because if that happens it will always come into your mind for the rest of your life.”
REVENGE
Against Algeria, the Ivorians will be looking for revenge for a dramatic 3-2 defeat after extra time when the sides met in the last eight in Angola in 2010.
And for Renard it will be a special occasion after he spent time coaching leading Algerian club USM Alger in 2011. “I had 10 great months in Algeria with them.
Their fans will of course not be behind the Ivory Coast but I say hello to them and their president and now I’ll try to make them cry,” he joked.
Gradel was the hero once again for Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday as his thumping strike secured the win.
Gradel, whose late equaliser earned the Ivorians a 1-1 draw with Mali at the weekend, struck 35 minutes into the deciding Group D game in Malabo as Herve Renard’s men went through in first place to a last-eight tie against Algeria on Sunday.
ONDOA, N'KOLOU AND MOTENG INCONSOLABLE
Cote d’Ivoire players were generously acknowledged by thousands of their supporters at the packed Estadio de Malabo pitch as they jogged around in celebratory mood on Wednesday night moments after the west African football giants secured their first win at this year’s competition.
The result, which came at the expense of fellow bigwigs Cameroon, who were consequently eliminated from the tournament, most importantly assured Herve Renard’s men of progression to the knockout stages.
Cote d’Ivoire, who are searching for their first continental title since 1992, now have a tricky quarter-final contest against Africa’s top ranked nation Algeria at the same venue on Sunday.
Not even a suspected calf strain to the team captain Yaya Toure, who limped out of the contest in the second half, would not dampen the team’s spirits.
“Obviously the whole squad is very relieved (by this result) because going out of this tournament at the group stage would have been a major embarrassment,” Liverpool defender Kolo Toure told French channel CFI in a post match interview.
Defeated Cameroonians were hurting.
“We will cry for a while, and then reflect on what went wrong, then try better things,” Cameroon captain Stephane Mbia said.
Teenage custodian Fabrice Ondoa, French based defender Nicolas N’kolou and attacker Eric Maxim Chuopa Moteng were almost inconsolable following their elimination.
