Ivory Coast caretaker managers Emerse Fae says he still finds it hard to believe that the Elephants are the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations champions after seeing off Nigeria 2-1 in Sunday’s final in Abidjan.
It marked an astonishing turn around for the Ivorians who were on the cusp of elimination in the group stage but narrowly made it through as one of the best third-placed sides.
Fae took over from Jean-Louis Gasset and was able to lead the Elephants to comeback victories over 2021 AFCON champions Senegal, Mali and Nigeria and was awarded as the manager of the tournament.
The man who won it all! ????
The #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 Best Coach award goes to Côte d’Ivoire's leader Emerse Faé ???????? pic.twitter.com/WmjiEeHRdI
— CAF (@CAF_Online) February 11, 2024
“I still find it hard to believe it. We went through all the emotions. This competition will mark my life, that’s for sure,” Fae said after the game
“I took the reins of the team, on my birthday and we were almost knocked out, yet things turned around thanks to the hard work of these players and they have been rewarded and more importantly, they rewarded our loyal people.”
Sunday’s victory was Ivory Coast’s third AFCON triumph after previous success in 1992 and 2015.
