On a cold night filled with loads of excitement amidst drumming, funfair, merrymaking, anxiety, and tension, host nation Cote d’Ivoire basked in glory as they finished winners of the 34th edition of the AFCON tournament.
Before the start of the tournament bookmakers named their favorites to win the tournament, defending champions, Senegal, perennial winners, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, and the host nation.
In this piece, the writer details some lessons he observed during the one-month continental showpiece amongst some of the teams that participated in the tournament touted as the best in the history of AFCONs.
YOUR START MATTERS NOT, THE END DOES.
When the competition kicked off on January 13, 2024, the host nation set the tone for the competition alive with a 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau then they went on to lose against fellow group opponents, Nigeria and later a humbling defeat at the hands of Equatorial Guinea,4-2. This sparked a wave of unrest, upheavals and disappointment amongst the players and the teeming football population harbored the hope and belief that the team would have followed through with their win over Guinea but fate had other ideas for them. They had to wait for the last round of games to make it past the next stage as Morocco’s slender win over Zambia ensured their passage as one of the third-best-placed teams with Ghana blowing up a two-goal lead against Mozambique which would have seen them qualify but it didn’t happen as such. Cote d’Ivoire secured the ticket to the Round of 16 where they faced, defending Champions, Senegal.
TO ACHIEVE RESULTS, TAKE RISK.
Following Cote D’ivoire‘s embarrassing defeat against group opponents, Equatorial Guinea, the Ivorian Football Federation released a statement terminating the contract of the French Coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, and his assistant “for insufficient results in accordance to the contract of objectives they had with the FIF” That singular act of dismal paved the way for one of their former midfielder, Emerse Fae to take up the team on an interim basis. Still, before that move, they tried courting the services of French coach and two-time AFCON winner, Herve Renard but their advances were rebuffed by the French Football Federation. They reposed confidence in one of their own, who led them to their third AFCON trophy and also achieved the feat as one of three African coaches after Algeria coach, Djamel Belmadi and Senegal’s Aliou Cisse to record that feat in 2019,2021 respectively.
NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES – LEADERSHIP
A decade ago, Nigeria won their third AFCON trophy under the able leadership of deceased coach, Stephen Keshi, with that in mind, they took it upon themselves to break that long wait for the major silverware which saw coach Jose Peseiro named a talented squad full of high flyers such as predatory striker, Victor Osihmen, Troost-Ekong, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Moses Simon, Frank Onyeaka, experienced duo Kenneth Omeruo and captain Ahmed Musa from the last championship winning side, a decade ago. The Super Eagles took to the field in all their seven games, without captain Ahmed Musa. The captain of the side didn’t kick a single ball in the tournament but he was seen motivating and cheering his side on to victory. In one of the pressers he was asked if he was bothered about his playing inactivity he opined “I am a patient man, I have been playing a lot for my teammates, and if my teammates are now playing for me to win, there’s no problem with that” he ended. The captain didn’t play a single game but his heroics off the field spoke volumes of his impact on his team leading them to the finals for a stronger host nation and the twelve men in the stands lost the game.
THE SEBASTIAN HALLER SHOW
One proverb that reverberates consistently in my mind after this beautifully organized AFCON tournament goes like “When life gives you lemons, make lemonades”. This life we are consistently trying to make meaning out of it comes in different shapes and forms but how you address a misfortune goes a long way toward setting you on a great path of positivity. Ivorian international Seb Haller is one player that bodies the scope of positivity. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in July 2022 then in February 2023, he beat the cancer and made a return to football.
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A year later, he scored two crucial goals one in the semi-finals against DR Congo and the other a winning goal against Nigeria to aid his country to their third AFCON trophy.
It was least surprising; he was the poster boy for his home nation as his pictures were splashed all over the major billboards in Ivory Coast.
Sebastian Haller
PERFORMANCE LIKE NEVER BEFORE
If someone told me this year’s AFCON would be as lit as it gets from the start to the end, I’m sure I would have doubted them but it did. The level of performance exhibited by most of the countries was just pure ecstasy, delight, unrivaled skills, technique, and supreme energy levels to match with some wonderful goals. From Equatorial topping a group that had Ivory Coast and Nigeria similar to newbies, Cape Verde topping a group with Ghana and Egypt in it while Mauritania made their country proud by advancing to the round of 16 amongst other exhilarating match duels at the 2023 AFCON.
Cote D’Ivoire may have won the tournament but neutrals will be pleased with the level of football displayed, the top-level refereeing exhibited by the Referees and their assistants the use of the VAR system which barely put a foot wrong in the entirety of the tournament.
For the Confederation of African Football (CAF), it’s a big milestone for them as they confirmed more than two billion people worldwide watched the tournament live on TV amongst other juicy partnership and financial openings. It can only get better in the years to come under the able leadership of CAF president Patrice Motsepe.
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