Sunday evening, at 9 p.m., Ivory Coast will have the opportunity to win the third African Cup of Nations in its history. After 1992 and 2015, the Elephants will have to beat Nigeria in the final to achieve this.
If this is the case, will Jean-Louis Gasset be able to add this African champion title to his coaching record? The answer is negative. According to the competitions department of the Confederation of African Football, his resignation after the group stage prevents him from doing so.
“We were on the verge of a catastrophe”
“We were in a devastated locker room with clashes outside, confided the 70-year-old technician in an interview with The Team, to justify his departure. I saw the little ones on their cell phones to check on their family. They were scared. We must never experience this again! We were on the verge of a catastrophe, frankly. I’ve been coaching for 35 years and this is the first resignation, but given what was happening… Tell me, you’re bad, you’re old, you’ve never coached in Africa, okay, but now it took a dramatic turn. People were going to our hotel, to the federation, there were tires on the road plus police officers everywhere. »
The man who had long been Laurent Blanc’s loyal assistant resigned from his post as coach of Côte d’Ivoire after the group stage of the African Cup of Nations. The Elephants ended this with a humiliating defeat against Equatorial Guinea (4-0).
