Ivory Coast Football Fans

The new manager of African football giants Ivory Coast Marc Wilmots has named his team for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

The coach got the job in March but just named his first squad for game. The team is poised to meet with the Netherlands on June 4 in a friendly game before facing Guinea in the qualifier on June 9.

Salomon Kalou is a veteran included in the list as he pushes off the idea of hanging up his boots in both international and club football. After they crashed out of the Nations Cup in January, he considered his international future and probably decided to hopefully play in the World Cup next year before he retires.

The former Chelsea star earlier said the tournament in Gabon would be his last in the international stage but considering the way they performed at the tournament, he decided to set Russia 2018 as his exit target.
Wilmots added long-time absentee SeydouDoumbia who plays for Swiss outfit FC Basel, Crystal Palace’s WilfredZaha, JeremieBoga who plays for Grenada, Maxwell Cornet of Lyon, and Giovanni Sio of Rennes France are also invited in forward positions.

In midfield CheickDoukoure, Franck Kessie, Jean Michael Seri, Jean-Philippe, and GeofforySerey Die were invited. At the back Europa League winner Eric Bailly of Man United, Sunderland’s LamineKone, Serge Aurier of PSG and Wilfred Kanon who plays in Netherlands were called to action.
The rest invited are Ghislain Konan, AdamaTraore, MamdouBagayoko, Simon Deli and JorisGnagnon.

This would be the first competitive match for the former Belgium coach. The golden generation of Ivory Coast stars won just a Nations Cup after impressing in several tournaments. Wilmots would have to build a new generation after the former all retired out.

Franck Kessie of Ivory Coast international has the desire to join Milan, though on the other hand Roma have a deal with Atalanta, flashing the bidding war of €30m.

This is the situation that has been as described by a number of sources and Italian sports Newspapers.

This is a fact that was well known in advance that Roma as agreed on the basic terms with Atalanta at the time of the transfer window for €28m of January, however, they decided to hold off this decision till this summer. The reason for the same was sold off Roberto Gagliardini to inter by as Bergamo side.

The strategy was ruined, nevertheless, when the agent of Kessie George Atangana, turned down the salary of €1.2m per year, which was the original salary offered to him in the beginning of this month.

After that, Milan dived in and swore to match the bonus of €28m plus transfer fee, including the wages of nearly €2m for every season.

In spite of all these, La Gazzetta dello Sport said that the Milan, who is now 20-year-old has his desire to be the part of Milan, he wants to be the part of team believing that he will become an important player in the team and a regular starter as well.

There would be the participation of the Champions League at Roma, so you’d be able to buy tickets to see him via this link, but Kessie is keen in developing consistent playing time, meanwhile considered an important figure for his team.

One more meeting is planned between directors of Roma and Atangana, but it seems the situation has become complicated unexpectedly.

As if now, no comments have come from Kessie with regards to this news, so that confirmation could be done. Thus, all have to wait for some more time to get a clearer picture on the status.

The new man in charge of the Elephants’ squad Marc Wilmots says that he would try and have a conversation with Yaya Toure and request him to give some more years to the national team.

Wilmots opines that at the highest level of the game, experience plays a massive role and Toure has got it more than anybody else as far as Ivorian Football is concerned. And not only the experience, but, his form in the past weeks has been second to none either.

As per Wilmots, he has watched the previous couple of outings of Toure in the top flight in England and he has looked class apart. He has been strong and at his best in a holding role in the centre of the pitch for the Sky Blues. He is still in a position to offer a lot to any team in the world and it will be great if he agrees to come back and serve his nation again because he is needed at this point of time.

Wilmots is someone who has been a Europe based coach and hasn’t been in a coaching role for an African team so far. This is his first stint of coaching in Africa and he admits that he doesn’t have a lot of idea about Cote D’Ivoire as a nation.

But, because he has followed the Ivorian national team and has seen them play, he doesn’t lack information on that front. He is a big admirer of the team and that is the reason when he was approached for the role, he wasn’t reluctant at all to accept it.

Wilmots believes there are many emerging talents in the current lot of Ivorian Footballers. It’s probably one of the most talented lots they have had for a long time.

Following the disastrous campaign of Ivory Coast in 2017, Michel Dussuyer opted to quit as the head coach of the African national side.

Ivory Coast failed to make it past the group stages as they drew with DR Congo and with Togo as well as losing against Morocco.

This campaign was hugely disappointing for Ivory Coast as they were one of the favorites of winning the African competition after having won the 2015 edition and had the task of defending their title but displayed underwhelming performances which eventually led to them being knocked out in the early stages of the tournament without being able to win a single game.

A statement from the Ivorian president Augustin Sidy Diallo read: ‘’Mr. DUSSUYER Michel, Coach of the Team National A, the: ”Elephants“ has given his resignation.

After consulting with the Committee of the IFF, the President of the Federation has taken note of the decision of Mr. DUSSUYER Michel.The President of the IFF and the Committee Executive held to express their thanks to Mr. DUSSUYER Michel for the work performed at the head of the‘’Elephants’’ for 18 months’’

The Ivorian Football Federation now has the task of finding someone who can succeed Michel Dussuyer and take charge of the national side.

One of the candidates that have popped up as a potential coach of Ivory Coast is the Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz. He is currently in charge of the Iran national side but rumors have been linking him with the vacant position in Ivory Coast.

Even though Queiroz is currently in charge of Iran, he has resigned on various occasions as the Portuguese coach has had altercations and disagreements with the Iranian Football Federation and it’s rumored that if another managerial position opens up, Queiroz might be interested in leaving Iran for good.

Ivory Coast are on the search for a new manager once again after Michel Dussuyer step down from his role following a very disappointing Africa Cup of Nations 2017.

Ivory Coast went into the tournament as one of the strong favourites for success, but they failed to register even a single victory. As a result, the national team were knocked out of the competition at the group stages. Prior to the tournament, Ivory Coast were seen as having a great chance of at least reaching the semifinals. They were in a group containing Monaco, Congo, and Togo. Yet, the team only managed two points from the three games.

Dussuyer took charge of the national team only 18 months ago. He was already faced with the burden of leading the national team to defend the title that they won in Equatorial Guinea 2015. Ivory Coast finally managed to end years of pain by lifting the title by beating Ghana on penalties in the final.

Ivory Coast will not only begin the process of finding the new manager, but they will also have to find new players who will be able to live up to the quality provided by names like Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba. The lack of the golden generation has certainly been a major factor behind Ivory Coast’s disappointing tournament.

“The decision came after consultation with the federation. We thank him for his work, as well as his humanity, professionalism, humility and discretion.The federation would like to reassure the public that measures are in place to find his replacement,” read a statement from Ivory Coast’s Football Federation. The Frenchman had a lot of success in terms of coaching African teams, as he was previously involved with the likes of Guinea and Benin. The 57-year-old’s next plan has not been revealed, but he is likely to continue in African football.

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As one of the strongest teams in African football, not many expected Ivory Coast to suffered back-to-back goalless draws in the World Cup qualification and friendly games.

However, it was exactly the achievements from the national team under the regime of Michael Dussuyer. After the 0-0 draw with Morocco in the World Cup 2018 qualification, Ivory Coast followed that up with another goalless draw but this time against France. One of the positives for the team was the ability to take clean sheets out of both games even when not having the best players around.

Ivory Coast are without talisman Yaya Toure, who has not had much football of late.Dussuyer said that he was pleased with the outcome of the game even thoughIvory Coast had even more possibilities to something of the game against France. He pointed out that his team created numerous opportunities in the game against the euro 2016 finalists.

Only 11 African countries were selected for using players during the recent international break, and Ivory Coast were one of them. The manager was able to take advantage of the games against Monaco and France in order to look at players.

The team will want to get back to winning ways as soon as possible with the 2017 African Cup of Nations looming around the corner. Ivory Coast will be up against the likes of Togo, Congo, and Morocco in the competition.”There is satisfaction in the outcome and the content of our game. We could have grabbed a little more but I’m very happy with the match we played. We were solid, we were serious, we not only defended well but we showed we also wanted to play. We have created opportunities. France also had some opportunities. It was a good game for us,” said the national team coach after the draw with France.

Serge Aurier who plies his trade with French champions Paris St. Germain has received praise for his effort in saving the life of Mali international Moussa Doumbia.

Doumbia was knocked unconscious when he clashed with Sunderland player Lamine Kone but the Ivory Coast international quickly saved the player from swallowing his tongue.

The coach of the Malian side Alain Giresse reached out to Aurier after the game to thank him for his effort.

“All the players realised that Doumbia was choking and was about to swallow his tongue. That’s when Aurier, with one of our players, quickly put him on his side and pulled out his tongue, because he was about to lose his life,” the coach told French radio outlet, RMC.

Aurier seems to be a controversial player, but at least did something really selfless for an opposing side, and it earned him a lot of commendations. In fact, later in the game, same Aurier stirred controversy when he made a throat-slit gesture towards the crowd when Ivory Coast scored a second goal against the Malians.

Aurier made the headlines last month when he was sentenced to two months jail term for giivng a police officer an elbow. The player was also fined €600 in damage costs over the incident which occured at a Paris Nightclub few months back. The Ivorien was suspended from the PSG team but the coach Laurent Blanc.

The club case dragged on until he was convicted late last Septemeber. He remains free to play pending the result of an appeal against the ruling which would impact his career to an extent. Aurier denied the charges, claiming that he was a victim of police violence. He had earlier called his teammates Argentinan Angel Di Maria a “clown” when he answered questions online.

Four-time African footballer of the year Yaya Toure of the Ivory Coast announced his retirement from international football on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old Manchester City midfielder capped 113 times including appearances at three World Cup finals said it had been an incredibly difficult decision for him.

“Writing this note was probably ‘the most difficult match of my life’,” Toure wrote, who faces a pretty light season as he is out of favour at Manchester City by his coach Pep Guardiola dropping him from champions league player list

“After 14 years at the highest level, I’m sure this is the right time for me! The fact that I am 33 now, the intensity of training and the multitude of games are not the reasons why I am making this decision.”

Toure, part of the golden generation of Ivory Coast players such as Didier Drogba, his brother Kolo Toure and Gervinho, said for all his success at club level, including a Champions League with Barcelona in 2009, it was finally winning the Africa Cup of Nations with his country Ivory Coast in 2015, their first since 1992, that remained his most precious memory.

His international career, though, has been marked by personal tragedy too with his mother dying on the cusp of an important junior final in 2003 and then it struck again at the 2014 World Cup ahead of a crucial group game with Colombia.

“With the Elephants, it was even more special. I learned to win for my country. That’s why I will always retain the pride in having achieved four African Golden Balls for the Ivory Coast”.

Toure could leave Manchester City at the next transfer window. The Ivorian contributed a lot to the national team, and there are fears that the current squad might not be able to carry on the legacy of the outgoing squad.

There were rumors that former Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba was in Birmingham in order to finalize a move to Aston Villa.

There have been plenty of reports on social media that Didier Drogba has landed in England and is currently looking to make his return in the English league. Various posts across social media have reported that they have personally seen Drogba in English airport.

The rumors have gained ground further when Aston Villa chairman has stated that they are looking to sign a world-class striker in the transfer window. Many fans made the link with Didier Drogba, and this has sparked a flurry of posts on social media.

The rumors gained so much popularity that Didier Drogba had to deny them personally on his personal Twitter account. He said that he just came out of training with MLS side Montreal Impact and that he is amazed that there have been reports that he was in Birmingham. He said that at the moment he is still a Montreal Impact player and that there are no talks about him returning to England at the moment.

The former Ivory Coast international has had a successful career in England while playing for Chelsea. He managed to score 164 goals for a total of 381 appearances. He enjoys quite a good reputation in England, and it is easy to understand why there has been such an excitement on social media when there have been rumors that he was going to move to Aston Villa.

Aston Villa chairman said that he has laughed at the rumors and stated that there is no way that his team is going to sign Drogba. He admitted that the former Ivory Coast player is a good player but that he does not form part of his team’s plans.