The Africa Cup of Ivory Coast This is one of many demonstrations that football is unpredictable. When a ball is involved, miracles happen. The elephants are doing continuous exercise in endurance which has already put them in no more or less than the semifinals of their tournament, because they are hosts. They are elephants with a shark mentality, which is very fashionable in world football thanks to Ferran Torres, the driving force of the movement. The player of Barça He deflects criticism and bad moments thanks to his developed mental strength and is always eager to bite. The same thing happened in Ivory Coast. They passed the first stage thanks to other results, beat the current champion on penalties and returned to the top ten Wrong.
Disastrous first stage, with technician change
From favorite to depend on third parties to pass the first stage, where they lose Guinea-Bissau (2-0) on debut, but fell hard against Nigeria (0-1) and Equatorial Guinea (0-4). Jean-Louis Gasset was dismissed the fate of the selection is not yet known. They are classified as third and Emerse Fae temporarily took the position. Along the way they tried to loan Renard, currently France Women’s coach, but it didn’t work out.
In the second round Senegal, current champion
The worst third against the best first. The champion who came flying and the host full of doubts. Predictions predicted victory for Los Leones de Teranga, but Ivory Coast equalized in the 86th minute and won the penalty shootout. The miracle still stands.
In the quarters, the jewel in the crown
With the score 0-0 they were left with 10 against Mali, something that made the task difficult. Time seems to have covered the quota of miracles. It’s not like that. Although the Malians led the scoreboard, in the 90th minute they managed to score and force extra time. Do not settle for that, in extra time it seems that everything will be decided again from the penalty spot, a new act. They made it to the semis with a goal in the 122nd minute!
The whole country took to the streets to celebrate like there was no tomorrow, which in many cases seemed like a nightmare turning into a dream. In Ivory Coast they already see themselves as favorites to be champions. A brutal exercise in resilience. In football, as in life, you must never give up.
The coach of Mali, the last team to surrender to the Ivorian Phoenix, was in disbelief and had to be comforted by his assistants.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
