History repeats itself as Elephants knocked out
What you need to know:
- The defeat that confirmed their elimination was orchestrated by Herve Renard, the French coach in charge of Morocco, who led the Ivorians to the title in Equatorial Guinea two years ago.
Despite boasting a reported Sh600 million budget meant for the team’s elaborate preparations for the Nations Cup in Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire suffered an embarrassing group stage exit in Oyem on Tuesday night.
The defeat that confirmed their elimination was orchestrated by Herve Renard, the French coach in charge of Morocco, who led the Ivorians to the title in Equatorial Guinea two years ago.
For the record, Renard also won the Cup with Zambia in 2012 when it was co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea,
This exit mirrors a classic grace to grass story.
The Ivorian’s hefty preparations budget allowed the team to attend a training camp in Dubai.
Winning bonuses were also pledged though the team eventually failed to win a single match.
The champions drew with Togo and DR Congo before that crushing defeat at the hands of the North African giants Morocco. So what went wrong?
Ex-Gabon forward Daniel Cousin likened the deposed giants situation to that of a bus with a new driver and conductor. He said the team missed the services of retired stars Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure.
“Even though the new driver was driving the bus, you could see he wasn’t accustomed to the routes, and in some corners he struggled. The team never found its feet here and that’s not because they are not good enough, rather there was no leadership,” said Cousin, who played for English Premiership club Hull City.
