“Emerse was until now interim coach and he has just been confirmed today as titular coach,” announced Mr. Diallo on the occasion of the presentation of the CAN trophy to a sponsor in Abidjan. The length of his contract has not been specified.
Emerse Faé took the reins of the Ivorian selection in the middle of the African Cup of Nations, the day after a disastrous first round at home. The Ivorians, then coached by Frenchman Jean-Louis Gasset, had certainly started with a victory over Guinea-Bissau (2-0) before losing to Nigeria (1-0) and being humiliated by Equatorial Guinea ( 4-0).
Thanks to the results of the other groups, the Elephants had however validated their ticket for the 8th finals, by a mouse hole. The Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) then chose to disembark Jean-Louis Gasset and entrust the reins of the selection to one of his deputies Emerse Faé.
Associated with another former Ivorian international, Guy Demel, the ex-Nantes and Nice midfielder awakened the Ivorian selection which finally won the CAN, on February 11, against Nigeria (2-1), after having successively eliminated the Senegal (1-1, 5-4 tab), Mali (2-1, ap) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (1-0).
