Left for dead and facing an agonising moment of being knocked out of AFCON 2024, host nation Cote d’Ivoire roared back to life in the competition after stunning holders Senegal on penalties in a Round of 16 tie. It was a resounding feat achieved by the Elephants, who many believe have been given a second chance divinely and can now go all the way.
The one positive for the host country was that they had nothing to lose, even dealing with the disappointment of spending about $1bn to stage the competition.
The thought of crashing out early was going to be dubbed as a ‘waste’ or ‘bad business.’
Not to mention the issue of having sacked the main coach following a string of poor results and asking an amateur coach to be in charge.
They were left with no choice but to go with the former Reading midfielder Emerse Fae, who then went on to make five changes to the side that was humiliated by Equatorial Guinea last week.
Frank Kessie was the hero of the day and shared the same strong and positive thoughts after the game ended inside the Charles Konan Banny stadium in Yamoussoukro.
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Kessie started the tie on the bench, came on in the 73rd minute of the match and assuredly assumed his responsibilities, dictating the flow of the game from the midfield role and even going on to score the equaliser from the penalty spot in the 86th minute.
He then scored the last kick in the penalty shootout that went into sudden death to qualify his side for the quarter-final.
Responding to questions after the game, the former Barcelona and AC Milan player shared some interesting thoughts about the strange week experienced by the Elephants.
“When you come out of a match against Equatorial Guinea (0-4) where you get beaten up in front of your audience, in the stadium that bears the name of the president, that’s when we felt this humiliation and this frustration,” said Cote d’Ivoire‘s goal hero Kessie.
“It was as if we were the outcast of the nation. After the Morocco win, we managed to qualify and at that point, I think we had nothing more to lose! As they say: a ghost cannot be afraid.
“So, we said to ourselves: ‘It’s true that we’re going to meet Senegal, who are the defending champions, and are coming off three matches and three victories.
“We had to give everything to create a surprise because the pressure was no longer in our camp but in theirs and that’s what we did tonight.”