It’s my obligation to win AFCON – Emerse Faé

The former midfielder was indeed part of a golden generation, but was robbed the opportunity to lift the continental title with The Elephants in 2015 having been forced to retired three years earlier due to complication in his veins.

Faé was 28 and closing in on half a century appearances.

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“I was not lucky enough to win the Afcon with my country as a player. This is like a duty and obligation for me to win one now having an opportunity to do it as a coach. If I can do it for this Afcon it will be great. I will do anything possible to ensure that my players fight and give their best to go all the way,” were his words of belief on the eve of another important test in his young career as a coach.

The hosts face the DR Congo at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan tonight for a spot in the AFCON final on Sunday – already an enormous achievement for Faé given they were long written off earlier in the competition, hence the dismissal of the more experienced Gasset.

Cote d’Ivoire had been humiliated 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea in their last fixture in Group A, but somehow snuck into the knockout stages as one of the third best placed side with their former player asked to take over.

What followed were unbelievable results.

They eliminated champions Senegal during a penalty shoot-out and then clawed their way back from a goal – and a man – down against Mali to win 2-1 in extra time in an epic quarterfinals clash.

“We almost exited the tournament, but once our qualification was validated we instilled more confidence. We worked on the group being more confident again. I told them if we go further we need to be more solid, show solidarity and show that we belong,” Faé told journalists.

“If you look at the teams that are here, they are the same – they work and fight together. They have the team spirit. We decided to create the same mindset as well for the team. I knew I had to create this to help them and us move from one stage to another. The miracle against Mali didn’t come by chance, our players gave it their all. The miracles only happens if you give your best.”