‘Resurrected’ Ivory Coast were gifted Africa Cup of Nations reprieve – now they could go on to win it

The Elephants face DR Congo in the 2023 Afcon semi-final, with Nigeria playing South Africa in the other

A 120th-minute quarter-final winner against Mali is celebrated by incredulous Ivory Coast players (AFP/Getty)

Sacked a manager, and then beat the entire continent. It would make a redemption story improbable enough to make the Mighty Ducks, the Karate Kid or even Rocky blush but it’s what Ivory Coast are facing the prospect of at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The hosts of this year’s tournament were within a whisker of being knocked out embarrassingly early on home soil but a brave decision looks to have become an inspired one, with the Elephants now just 90 minutes away from their first Afcon final in almost a decade.

This, after being only injury time away from an ignominious exit. From the group stage, the top two go through – and so do four of the six third-placed teams. In other words, only the worst eight nations from the starting 24 fail to make the knockouts at the Afcon, and Ivory Coast put themselves firmly on course to be in that collection after a win and two defeats.

• Afcon semi-final schedule: Africa Cup of Nations fixtures, start times and TV channels

They were fifth-best of the six third-placed teams, right up until the 90th minute of Ghana’s game with Mozambique. At the time, Ghana led 2-0 and were going through; fast forward four minutes of stoppage time and Mozambique had scored twice, Ghana went out instead and – coupled with Zambia losing to Morocco – Ivory Coast were given a reprieve.

Head coach Jean-Louis Gasset, however, was not. His dismissal after Ivory Coast’s heaviest-ever defeat on home soil, 4-0 against Equatorial Guinea, left assistant coach Emerse Fae – capped 41 times in a playing career which saw him briefly feature for Reading – in charge for his first-ever job, with his debut match in charge coming against the reigning champions of Africa, Senegal.

If that was trial by fire, he has since shown an ability to unite a group and, just as importantly, judge games well enough to make impactful substitutions and harness the atmosphere within the squad which has been buoyed by the manner of their last two victories: a late equaliser and penalty shootout victory, then an even later equaliser and last-minute extra-time winner.

The sense of destiny is growing, and so is the assurance of the Ivory Coast squad – and their fans.

And no wonder, given the manner of them escaping both the group stage and knock-out elimination so far. A man down to Mali for well over an hour of the quarter-final all told, a penalty saved and two last-minute strikes? Then another red card? The script was already so far-fetched with the mid-tournament dismissal, why not make it even more wild and unbelievable?

Ivory Coast fans celebrate reaching the semis (EPA)

The hosts celebrate Oumar Diakite’s late winner against Mali (Reuters)

But if Ivory Coast have already restored pride and respectability with the distance gone in the tournament, thoughts must now be colder and more brutal if they want to lift the trophy. Results have been spectacular in their arrival but the performances in both knockout games have been below what the players are capable of. To an extent that’s expected, given all the turnaround, but they need to be able to find their structure much faster once the first ball is kicked.

Fae knows this and has addressed it ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final with the Democratic Republic of Congo. “We were lucky against Senegal and Mali to come back each time,” he said.

“We need to try to control the match rather than enduring the pressure and being forced to struggle and having to make the effort to come back.

“I told the players we were dead after the defeat against Equatorial Guinea, and we were resurrected after the Morocco game with Zambia.”

Simon Adingra scores the 90th-minute equaliser that took the quarter-final into extra time (Reuters)

If the Elephants have been resurrected, they still face yet more danger in their next challenge to stay alive. DR Congo have the second-highest xG at the tournament, behind only Nigeria. They have also won possession in the final third more frequently than anyone else and are third for touches in the opponents’ box – though Ivory Coast themselves top that particular category.

It should make for an intriguing semi-final, with DRC coming into it out of the spotlight and perhaps slightly underappreciated for their efforts thus far, given they drew all three group matches and their round of 16 game, knocking out Egypt only on penalties. Their first win at the 2023 Afcon finally arrived in the quarters, Guinea dispatched 3-1. Given DRC hadn’t reached a semi-final since 2015 and have just two tournament wins to their name, the most recent being 1974, Ivory Coast are perhaps not the only ones feeling the call of destiny.

DRC are known as the Leopards, notably a big cat, the animal with, supposedly, nine lives. It appears that at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, we’re discovering exactly how many the Elephants have.