After Côte d'Ivoire's heavy 3-0 defeat by Zambia on Matchday 5 of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Franck Kessié had this to say about the rout. "It really wasn't a good day because we took a beating. It was important, as an old player, to boost the morale of the new players....and tell them that there will be other matches. To do that, we have to work hard and give it our best shot," revealed the Barcelona midfielder.
Nevertheless, Franck Kessie acknowledges that Zambia were superior and better prepared. "When your name is Côte d'Ivoire, whoever your opponent is, you can't expect to take such a beating before the match.... It was clear that our opponents were better prepared than we were. Frankly, they deserved the win... We tried, but it didn't work. Our opponents were clearly better than us. We need to work harder, as I said, to go as far as we can,"Côte d'Ivoire: Kessié explains the debacle against Zambia he admitted.
