Georges Kouadio: "Ivory Coast can win the AFCON"
Former Ivory Coast coach Georges Kouadio spoke to Sport News Africa about his optimism ahead of the AFCON
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Should Ivory Coast be considered one of the favourites for the AFCON?
There are teams ranked higher than Ivory Coast in the FIFA rankings: Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Tunisia and Egypt, in particular. But the Elephants will be playing at home, which is supposed to be an advantage because crowd support is an asset, but above all this is a side with real quality. I think Ivory Coast can win the title. I'm reasonably optimistic, because there are plenty of other contenders.
Group A, completed by Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea, looks manageable, but it is far from a given…
That's right. A group stage is never straightforward. They will need to get the opening game against Guinea-Bissau right: they are a tough, solid opponent who are used to playing in finals tournaments. Of course, Nigeria will be the Elephants' main rivals. With Osimhen, Boniface and Lookman, they have impressive attacking potential. Nigeria can also lay claim to the title. We should be wary of Equatorial Guinea too, quarter-finalists in 2022 in Cameroon, who have kept that level up since. They are a team capable of beating the best. But it would still be a big failure if Ivory Coast did not get out of the group.
"Haller is a very good striker"
Have the Elephants' recent matches reassured you?
Yes. In November, they showed a lot of application against Seychelles (9-0) and Gambia (2-0) in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Scoring nine goals takes some doing, even against modest opposition. It shows that the Ivory Coast players are committed and engaged. There were also some interesting friendlies beforehand, notably against Morocco (1-1), a benchmark in Africa.
Yet some performances had caused a degree of concern among supporters, notably the rout in Zambia last June (0-3)…
It's true that the game was not a resounding success. But the main thing is that the team is ready for the big day. Jean-Louis Gasset was appointed in 2022 to get the side ready for the AFCON. He experimented, there were good results and less good ones, good performances and more difficult ones, which is only natural.
Read more on the same subject: AFCON 2023: the bonuses promised by CAF
Does the situation of Sébastien Haller, who is struggling badly at Borussia Dortmund, worry you?
The coach has decided to put his faith in him despite his limited playing time at his club. That is an important show of confidence. Haller is a very good striker, he has proved it. He has had health problems (testicular cancer, editor's note), and he needs time to come back. This AFCON can do him good, even more so if he plays and scores. He has a good mentality, and I believe he will bring something to this team.
Alexis Billebault