Ivory Coast interim coach Emerse Fae has noted his team’s poor start as a challenge after their hard-fought 2-1 triumph over Mali at 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Elephants scaled into the semi-final of the the competition on Saturday night, thanks to Oumar Diakite’s last-minute winner in the extra-time.
Ivory Coast were reduced to 10 men in the first-half after Odilon Kossounou’s expulsion and then fell behind to Mali in the 77th minute through Nene Dorgeles’ strike.
Brighton star Simon Adingra forced the game into extra time with his equaliser on the stroke of full-time before Diakite’s late brilliance in the 122nd minute.
The victory secured Ivory Coast’s passage into the semi-final which made Fae race about the Elephants’ resilience.
“We did not give up, we tried to put a plan into place to be able to contain them and to be able to keep the ball,” the Ivorian coach said.
“We were not far from being eliminated, the players especially, didn’t give up, they fought into the end.
“Our state of mind is to look at the scenario of the game, we were trying to win with 10 against 11, they were in the lead and it was tactically difficult for us because they were almost the best at that time. Tactically, I think we played a good game.”
In his review of Ivory Coast’s performance, Fae admitted that his team were poor in the first 15 minutes of the game and he assured to work on it before the face Democratic Republic of Congo in the semi-final on Wednesday.
“These are positive signs that give hope. I prefer not have a lot of suspense, we were able to study the very beginning of the game and we had tactical problems 15 minutes into the game.” the former Reading and Nantes midfielder continued.
“We need to revise how we start our games, we have to master the game from the beginning and not to be obliged to have a lot of pressure.”
