Some countries plan for tournaments for years, work on plans and development and DNA, meticulously lay out their blueprint for success. And some just wing it, finding amid the chaos a sense of purpose and momentum that, being unexpected, somehow makes them all the more potent. Ivory Coast have looked out of this tournament on at least three occasions and replaced their coach but they will face Nigeria in Sunday’s final.
Nobody could say they dominated but, after an edgy start, it was probably Ivory Coast’s most impressive display of the tournament so far as the Saudi-based pair of Franck Kessié and Seko Fofana gave them control of midfield in the second half and their first 90-minute win of the knockout phase. Sébastien Haller, making his first start of the tournament, got the only goal after 65 minutes which, by recent Ivorian standards, felt almost like scoring in the prelude.
Continue reading…Some countries plan for tournaments for years, work on plans and development and DNA, meticulously lay out their blueprint for success. And some just wing it, finding amid the chaos a sense of purpose and momentum that, being unexpected, somehow makes them all the more potent. Ivory Coast have looked out of this tournament on at least three occasions and replaced their coach but they will face Nigeria in Sunday’s final.Nobody could say they dominated but, after an edgy start, it was probably Ivory Coast’s most impressive display of the tournament so far as the Saudi-based pair of Franck Kessié and Seko Fofana gave them control of midfield in the second half and their first 90-minute win of the knockout phase. Sébastien Haller, making his first start of the tournament, got the only goal after 65 minutes which, by recent Ivorian standards, felt almost like scoring in the prelude. Continue reading…
