AFCON 2023: Hosts Cote d’Ivoire hoping to capitalize on confidence and home support
Hosts Cote d’Ivoire have one more difficult huddle to clear in their bid to play in the grand finale of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON)
The tournament has reached a crescendo and as the Ivorians clash with the Leopards of DR Congo in the semifinal, stand-in coach Emerse Fae believes that his charges will be ready to handle the pressure from the home support to prevail against the DR Congo.
“In our previous games, we’ve struggled at the start. This time we’ll look to capitalize on the confidence we’ve built to impose our gameplan from the off”, Fae warned.
The Elephants have counted on luck and home support to reach this far. They defeated Senegal on penalties in the Round of 16 and secured a dramatic victory over Mali in the quarterfinal.
Coach Fae is aware of how they escaped elimination right from the preliminary stage till this stage.
“We were almost out but we refocused as a group, restored confidence, and understood we had to be united.
“I knew we had the quality, the key was recreating that team dynamic.
“There was more pressure in our last two games than this semi-final, even though it’s a bigger match”, he noted.
Coach Fae added that the team will remember how far they’ve come, and the effort taken just to get here.
Before the Cote d’Ivoire – DR Congo encounter, Nigeria will lock horns with South Africa in the first semifinal encounter that promises to be cagey.
