The resounding 4-0 defeat suffered by the Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire against the Nzalang Nacional of Equatorial Guinea in the third group match of the Afcon 2023 went very badly. Ivorian legend Didier Zokora did not mince his words to express his dissatisfaction.
Equatorial Guinea’s Nzalang Nacional inflicted a memorable humiliation on Ivory Coast 4-0. Emilio Nsué scored twice, bringing his goal tally to 5 after a hat-trick against Guinea-Bissau. A figure which places him at the top of the ranking of the best scorers of the Afcon 2023. Côte d’Ivoire, with a failing midfield, an attack lacking inspiration and a defense in disarray, has never shown signs of strength against Equatorial Guinea, an opponent who, according to Zokora, was not as formidable as it seemed.
As millions of Ivorians face the heaviness of this colossal 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea, Zokora’s disappointment is particularly deep. The Maestro, as he is affectionately called, struggles to accept that the Elephants no longer control their destiny.
Didier Zokora exposes the incompetence of Jean-Louis Gasset
Like Didier Drogba, the other Didier, the one the Ivorians nickname Maestro, followed with bitterness the slap inflicted by Equatorial Guinea. In a frank video after the match and transcribed by the local media, sport-ivoire.ci, Zokora clearly blamed the Ivorian coach, Jean Louis Gasset. “I think the players are the image of the coach because the coach is very bad,” first remarked the former Tottenham midfielder.
Didier Zokora’s criticism extends beyond the immediate disappointment of defeat. The legend trained at Asec Mimosa targeted Gasset’s unimpressive record and completely undermined it. “He doesn’t have a CV, he hasn’t won anything at the club or even anywhere. “, he added. According to him, entrusting such a crucial match to a coach with an unimpressive pedigree was a blatant lack of respect for the efforts made by the Ivorian state to ensure the team’s success. Zokora evokes in this case, Gasset’s inability to change the course of the game in the second half. “A match that is important, the State has put in place the means for the team to get as far as possible. Losing like that is humiliating. It’s a lack of respect for Côte d’Ivoire,” he concluded.
Gasset himself designates himself responsible
Ivory Coast must now wait and wait for luck to turn in its favor, hoping to finish among the four best thirds in order to continue the adventure. The Elephants, who lost against Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, recorded a victory, which can allow them today to continue the CAN 2023.
But after the humiliation suffered against Equatorial Guinea, Jean Louis Gasset, coach of Ivory Coast, designated himself as solely responsible for this heavy defeat. “In life, there are sometimes matches that turn into nightmares, matches where everything seems linked. We conceded a goal in the first half on the opponent’s only opportunity, even though we had control of the game, we had opportunities, it’s already a bit hard. In the second half, the same scenario. We are dominant… the opportunities present themselves to us and it is ultimately the opponent who scores. We call this the disaster scenario. When you are a club or national team coach, you are responsible for results. Today the result was catastrophic. So of course, I am the first to be responsible. », blurted the French technician.
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