Reliance on individual prowess cost the Elephants glory

There is little optimism that the Elephants still have a chance to push for continental glory one more time with this group of players.

This year’s Africa Cup of Nations saw Ivory Coast’s ‘golden generation’ fail to live up to their pre-tournament favourites tag.
The Ivorians were taken to ‘Sunday School’ by a youthful and ambitious Super Eagles side that came into the much-anticipated quarterfinal clash as the underdogs.
This could have been the last chance for the aging West Africans to claim the accolade that has repeatedly eluded them.
It was a painful sight as Didier Drogba exchanged bitter words with Nigerian Victor Moses, a former under-21 England international, after the final whistle of last Sunday’s quarterfinal, before treading through the tunnel for probably the last time at an Africa Cup tournament.
After falling to Zambia in last year’s final, Ivory Coast fell a tad lower to Nigeria 2-1 and the general feeling is the majority of this star-studded outfit is to retire with a feeling of emptiness after failing in their conquest to reclaim ‘the Kings of Africa’ crown.
To understand Ivory Coast’s failures in South Africa, it is important to look into the finer details of their team composition and strength of their opposition.

This Ivory Coast team is blessed with vast talent in the likes of Uefa Champions League winner Drogba, Toure brothers; Kolo and Yaya, who won the English Premiership with Man City last season, Gervinho of Arsenal and Lille-based Solomon Kalou among others.

Truth though is that Ivory Coast failed to perform as a unit and become a force to reckon with, especially against Nigeria.

They played more as individuals as opposed to playing like a team. This team has been together for enough time to know each other’s weaknesses and strengths but most times they played like a galaxy of stars meeting for the first time in a testimonial. They were destined to find the going tough against a team like Nigeria, which pulled together as a unit with not so many stars to look up to. Yet, you’ve got to feel for coach Sabri Lamouchi for failing to deliver with such a collection of extravagantly talented stars.

But again, he has to take stick for trying to accommodate all of them on that ‘black day’ even when he was aware such a move could backfire.
Switching established midfielder Didier Zokora to central defence was one unforgiveable error the coach committed. And it is clear such a move must have been as a result of pressure to have all the established stars on the pitch at the same time.

The midfield was one area in which the Ivorians struggled to match their opponents, often conceding possession to Nigeria besides failing to bury a flurry of chances as the game wore on. Any other decent side on a good day
would have hurt them for failing to keep the ball. Nigeria capitalised on that and decisively sent them home. But even then, this Elephants side has surely been deserted by luck. In sport, however much talented one is, they
need a slice of good fortune.

Unfortunately, bad luck has been following Ivory Coast. They were thrashed 4-1 by Egypt in the 2008 final, conceded an injury time Madjid Bougherra goal and lost in extra time to Algeria in 2010. Last year, star man Drogba failed to convert a penalty as they lost in a bruising shoot-out to Zambia.

The fear of failure and pressure to deliver from their expectant fans, could also be blamed as another cause of Ivory Coast’s failure.
It’s normal, when expectations are high, pressure always takes a toll on sportsmen. The Ivorians were by far the best team in Afcon 2013, on paper, but they agonisingly turned from being favourites to chokers.
Being pre-tournament favourites, the Elephants could have grown complacent and taken their opponents for granted. It’s likely that they were confident of easing past Nigeria, a side that has also not won an African title since 1994.

The number of mistakes and poor form displayed by several of their stars was evidence of the pressure within their camp. They seemed overwhelmed by the pressure at the big stage. That was suicidal. And Ivory Coast players
will painfully watch the final on television like most of us. Most, if not all of them, will be wishing they could turn back the hands of time.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com