Ivory Coast, the host country, had promised to organize “the CAN of the century”, but it had certainly not considered being eliminated in the group stage. The Elephants had a crazy day on Wednesday, January 24. At the end of the morning, French coach Jean-Louis Gasset resigned even before the decisive results of the day’s matches; then, at the very end of the evening, Côte d’Ivoire qualified on the edge thanks to Morocco’s victory against Zambia.
Published on: 01/25/2024 – 2:47 p.m.
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The Moroccan victory which was celebrated by an entire country. From the final whistle, there was an explosion of joy in Abidjan. Thousands of young people started running towards the streets of the Marcory district where many Moroccans live to commune with the evening saviors, reports our correspondent on site, François Hume-Ferkatadji.
Also read: The rankings, results and calendar for CAN 2024
« All Ivorians are really happy! Morocco is a god for us. Morocco and Ivory Coast are truly like brothers and friends », Says an Ivorian supporter.
« Morocco has just saved us from this humiliation »
« It’s the best CAN in the world, Ivory Coast was affected, it was not in good shape during the start of this competition, we were humiliated ! But here, Morocco has just saved us from this humiliation. We hope that the Elephants will give their all for the second part of this competition. Long live CAN, long live Ivory Coast », rejoices another.
Engine roar, smoke bombs, and thrusts by the thousands on “hammer blows”, the hit of the CAN, this qualification by proxy has a taste of victory.
Hicham Mezoub, Moroccan supporter receives endless hugs. “ We are together. We are very proud to allow Côte d’Ivoire to qualify after their defeat against Equatorial Guinea “, he says.
Immense joy in San Pedro
At the final whistle, the clamor from the Laurent Pokou stadium must have been heard several kilometers around. This victory of Morocco, which allows the Ivorians to continue the competition, will remain an indelible memory on the side of San Pedro, reports our special correspondent in San Pedro, Farid Achache. The country has come a long way and Ivorian fans have spent their time jumping on the necks of Moroccan supporters in the aisles of the stadium. “ They are our brothers, we love them », shouted a young man dripping with sweat after this crazy evening.
Several hours after the meeting, it was still difficult to navigate the main arteries of the world’s leading cocoa port. Kids wanted to ride in the back of pick-ups and young men screamed with joy three or four on the same motorcycle. We even saw a few fireworks here and there. A large crowd even intended to greet the Moroccan players at their seaside headquarters and the police had to rush to install filter barriers to prevent the situation from degenerating. Until late at night, we celebrated this qualification in the city’s small bars. San Pedro almost looked like a town celebrating the title, the joy was so immense.
Getting up for the eighth
But after the joy, we will now have to think about what comes next for the Elephants who will have to mentally recover from the slap they received against Equatorial Guinea.
After the resignation of coach Jean-Louis Gasset, the Ivorian selection and its new coach Emerse Faé will play their round of 16 this Monday, January 29 in Yamoussoukro, the political capital of the country, against the reigning African champions, Senegal of Aliou Cissé, the only team to have achieved a flawless run with three victories in three matches. On Elephant match days, Ivorian students are exempt from classes, one more reason for them to celebrate Morocco’s victory!
