Balance sheet
CAN 2024: what to remember from 30 completely crazy days
The curtain came down on the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations on Sunday February 11 with the magnificent victory of Ivory Coast over Nigeria (2-1). An apotheosis which came to complete 30 days of football, celebration, suspense, and emotions. Results of a competition that will go down in history, where Côte Ivoire won the Elephant's share.
The joy of the Ivorians after the title, February 11, 2024. © Pierre René-Worms/RFI
By: Ndiasse Sambe Follow
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From our special correspondent in Abidjan,
■ The player: Haller eclipses Osimhen
For a long time, Victor Osimhen seemed to be Nigeria's X-factor, its guide to the trophy, until Sébastien Haller decided otherwise in the final and won the duel between the two attackers. The Ivorian player, who missed Ivory Coast's first three matches due to injury, changed the fortunes of the Elephants as soon as he could put one foot in front of the other. Passer, almost decisive, on Nicolas Pépé's penalty which would change the course of the round of 16 against Senegal, Haller was decisive in the semi-final by scoring the only goal of the match against the
DRC
. He concluded his
CAN
in the most beautiful way by scoring the goal which offered the Cup to Ivory Coast. Whereas a few moments before, he was thinking of going out because of his sore ankle. Other players also left their mark on this CAN: Nigerian defender Enert Troot Ekong, best day of the competition, Equatorial Guinean Emilio Nsue, top scorer (5 goals), South African Teboho Mokoena, Congolese Chancel Mbemba or the Angolan Gelson Dala.
■ Coach: Fae who else?
José Peseiro almost succeeded and kept his promise to win CAN 2024, Hugo Broos would also have made a great winner, but Emerse Fae has no rival when it comes time to “vote” for the CAN coach. CAF made no mistake in naming him the best coach of the tournament. Fae will certainly forever be remembered as the coach who won the African Cup in four matches. The former assistant achieved an incredible feat by rebuilding a team in agony to lead it to the coronation. He displayed his leadership qualities by building a commando group to collect the Cup and keep it at home. Huge !
South African Teboho Mokoena celebrates his equalizer from a penalty during the semi-final between Nigeria and South Africa in Bouaké, February 7, 2024. © AP / Themba Hadebe
■ The team: South Africa, the good local recipe
Nobody expected them at this level. They who had gone 24 years without setting foot on a CAN podium. The South Africans can boast of being the team of this 34th edition because their journey commands respect. In a selection where 20 of the draftees play in the country, including 10 within Mamelodi Sundowns, Hugo Broos, African champion with Cameroon in 2017, once again proved his talents as an experienced technician. Bafana Bafana's third place greatly bears the mark of the 71-year-old Belgian coach. Great mention also to Cape Verde, Angola and Mauritania, real favorites in this CAN.
■ The stadium: Exhausted, from torrents of tears to explosions of joy
The Bouaké Peace Stadium with its crazy matches, Cameroon-Gambia (3-2), Ivory Coast-Mali (2-1 ap) and, Nigeria-South Africa (1-1, tab: 4- 3), could have won the prize. But it is the Ébimpé stadium which stands out, being the symbol of the crazy journey of the Ivory Coast. On the lawn of the Alassane-Ouatara stadium, the Elephants lost against Nigeria (0-1) and were especially humiliated by Equatorial Guinea (0-4). The players were booed, insulted, and some like Diakité or Adingra could not hold back their tears after the debacle against the Equatorial Guineans. And yet, it is in Ébimpé that rebirth and reconciliation will take place between the Elephants and the public. In the semi-final first against the DRC and then in the final in an indescribable atmosphere. Going from hell to paradise, Ébimpé will forever be the stadium of the third Ivorian star.
■ The youngster: Simon Adingra, all of a great
Savior of the Ivory Coast in the quarter-final against Mali, while he could have missed the CAN due to injury, the young striker Simon Adingra was one of the men in the final with two assists on Franck Kessié's goals and Sébastien Haller. Absent during the first two meetings of the Ivory Coast, thrown into the shipwreck against Equatorial Guinea in the 87th minute, Adingra was one of the symbols of the Ivorian renaissance and the triumphant youth of the Elephants with his friend Oumar Diakite.
■ The goalkeeper: Rowen Williams, Mr. Penalty
CAF logically named him goalkeeper of the tournament and it is deserved for Rowen Williams. The South African goalkeeper was a pillar of the Bafana Bafana selection. His exceptional performance with four saves from five shots on goal in the quarter-final against Cape Verde will remain one of the images of the CAN. It is also thanks to him that South Africa won their third place with their decisive saves in front of the Congolese Chancel Mbemba and Elia Meschak during the penalties of the match this classification. The Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper has now made a name for himself at the CAN, like his colleague from the South African championship, the Nigerian Stanley Mwabali who plays for Chippa United.
■ The match: an unforgettable derby
We could have named almost all of Côte d'Ivoire's matches, as they were accompanied by their share of suspense and emotions, but the quarter-final against Mali will undoubtedly remain the match that played the most yo-yoed in the hearts of the supporters. Reminder of the facts: Mali opened the scoring in the 72nd minute through Nene Dorgeles after missing a penalty in the first period. Ivory Coast are ten at this point in the match since the expulsion of Odilon Kossounou and we are not giving much of our skin. But the incredible will happen with Simon Adingra's equalizer in the 90th minute. The rest is unspeakable with this goal from Oumar Diakité in the last minute of extra time. Always at ten! After this meeting, “impossible” was no longer Ivorian…
DRC players denounced the ongoing violence in their country before the CAN 2024 semi-final against Ivory Coast. PIERRE RENE-WORMS/FMM
■ The image: the Congolese for their country
There have been several in this CAN, but the strongest will certainly remain the gesture of Congolese footballers in the semi-final against Ivory Coast to denounce the abuses in their country. Right hand on the mouth, two fingers of the left hand, symbolizing a trigger on the temple, the Leopards sent a message live in this CAN.
We will also remember the image of Éric Chelle stunned, on the verge of unease after the goal in the 120th minute from Côte d'Ivoire which eliminated Mali. Without forgetting the tears of Kaba Diawara, overwhelmed by the emotion of having qualified his Guinea against Equatorial Guinea.
■ The fiasco: Morocco, the cold shower
He was the big favorite of the tournament. But Morocco, semi-finalist in the 2022 World Cup, was pitifully knocked out of the CAN in the round of 16 by
South Africa (2-0)
. Walid Regragui's men were completely wrong in this competition, especially in their desire to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. Privatized hotel, closed road, barbed wire on the beach... to cut you off from everything. Morocco may have forgotten that the main thing was played on the pitch first. An easy victory over Tanzania, a first alert against DR Congo (1-1) and a small formality (1-0) against Zambia, to qualify Ivory Coast, certainly hid the Lions of Atlas the reality on the continent after having climbed so high on a global level.
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