The coach of the Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire, Jean-Louis Gasset, judged the level of his team just over two months before the start of Can 2023 on Ivorian soil.
During the last meeting in October, the Selephanto could not do better than two draws in friendly results at the Felicia in Abidjan, first against Morocco on the 14th, then against South Africa three days later, still on the score 1-1. In front of the Moroccans who were copiously dominated throughout almost the entire match, the Orange could have, or even should, have won by at least two goals. But like an extremely clumsy Oumar Diakité, the locals harvested and ended up being caught on the scoreboard following a defensive error at the end of the game. Facing Bafana Bafana more aggressive than the Atlas Lions, the Ivorians then chased the score before snatching the equalizer through Sébastien Haller shortly after the hour mark.
Despite significant apparent offensive deficiencies, coach Jean-Louis Gasset prefers to retain the character of the team. “If we summarize, I can say that in the first match, we showed that we could compete with a very good team in terms of play, since it was us who had the ball, possession and the scoring opportunities. And the second match against South Africa was a different scenario where we didn’t get into the match as well, but we didn’t accept losing. We knew how to put in the possible ingredients to get back to the score and play to win it. I remember that these are two matches which allow us to move forward,” summarized the French technician for the communications service of the Ivorian Football Federation (Fif).
Gasset remains confident
“We are on the right path,” said the sixty-year-old, referring to the next Can 2023. “We have just played three good teams: Mali (September 12, Editor’s note), Morocco and South Africa. Against Mali, we only played 45 minutes (match stopped due to an impassable pitch following a storm, Editor’s note). We certainly didn’t lack efficiency, but in the game, we were positioned. Morocco, we competed, and South Africa, even tired, we knew how to have the resources to get back into the match and do everything we could to win it. I am certain that we are making progress. We are moving forward and we will be ready on January 13 (date of the start of Can 2023, Editor’s note),” he concluded.
On November 17 and 20, the Elephants will take advantage of the first two days of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup against Seychelles and Gambia respectively to refine their preparation for the Can. As a reminder, these will be their last matches before the launch of this 34th edition.
Afrik-foot
2023-11-09 11:55:34
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