Coachless and lucky to still be around, host nation Ivory Coast go into their Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 clash against defending champions Senegal at the Charles Konan Stadium on Monday (10pm) resembling sheep being led to the slaughter.
The Elephants were so bitterly disappointing in the round robin phase of the tournament – during which they won a single match and lost the other two – that they even needed an armed escort when leaving the pitch after their shock 4-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea.
Senegal, on the other hand, were the star performers of the group stage – the Lions of Teranga being the only team with a 100% record from their three matches.
Cue defeat for the Ivory Coast, right?
Odds stacked against Ivory Coast
After all, how can a team that was so off colour in their final group match that they set the record for the worst Afcon finals defeat for a host nation hope to get the better of a defending champion that put eight past their three opponents while letting in just one?
It looks unlikely, doesn’t it?
What with the Ivorians having fired their coach Jean-Louis Gasset before their progression was confirmed?
His assistant and former player Emerse Fae will be in charge of a match the home nation did not expect to play after they finished third in their group, with three points and a poor minus-three goal difference that appeared unlikely to earn them a knockout spot as one of the four best third-placed teams. But with Ghana and Zambia managing just two points for third place in their respective groups, the Elephants have a lifeline as the worst of the four.
Will they use it?
Well, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana did back in 2019 when they sneaked through in a similar way and stunned hosts Egypt to reach the quarter-final.
Poor as they have been, Ivory Coast have history in their favour as previous results show they have the beating of their opponents.
Twice the two west African countries have met at the tournament, and on both occasions it was the Elephants who won.
Looking back at history
Back in 1965, when they contested the third-place spot, a Konan Yeboue goal just after the half-hour mark earned the Ivorians victory. They won by the same scoreline in a 1986 group clash, Abdoulaye “Ben Badi” Traore finding the net with a quarter of an hour to go.
Should they not find inspiration from the need to defend that proud record, then the Elephants can look to recent tournament history for confidence.
Not only will their opposition be hard-pressed to register their maiden Afcon victory over Ivory Coast, but Senegal must also break a tournament jinx that’s been going on for the past six editions.
No defending champion has progressed past the round of 16 since Egypt won the tournament back in 2010.
This Senegal outfit is top class, though, as evidenced by the fact they have not been heavily reliant on the talismanic Sadio Mane for goals, as Lamine Camara (two), Habib Diallo, Papa Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Abdoulaye Seck, Iliman Ndiaye have all found the opposition net, alongside Mane himself.
It makes the Ivory Coast’s task of pulling off what would – on current form – be a shock defeat all that more difficult.
But stranger things have happened in this beautiful game of billions, and given the surprises this tournament has produced, rule out an Elephants victory at your own peril.
While the same can be said of the day’s other match, it is highly unlikely that Mauritania would beat Cape Verde, whom they play in Abidjan’s Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium at 7pm.
First- timers in the knockout stage, Mauritania have outdone themselves and will kiss Ivory Coast goodbye with the Blue Sharks sure to prove too strong for them.