Ivorian Coach Vows To Stay On

Still drowning in a sea of criticisms for a lack-lustre performance against Eagles of Nigeria, Ivorian national coach, Sabri Lamouchi, has said he is not contemplating to resign.

The highly recommended Ivorian team lost 2.1 to a less experienced Nigerian team at the Orange AFCON 2013.

Lamouchi said “I have not contemplated resignation and it has not crossed my mind.”

In an interview with Tidesports source in South Africa, the French-Tunisian, 42 year-old, coach said the Nigerian side out-paced the Elephants.

“I did my job to polish the team. If we were strong we would have won the match.

“We scored at the only time we came out strong.

“We had two clear chances of returning to the game, but unfortunately we lost it to a fast, fexible and confident side.”

He said that the Ivorian team lacked many things in the match which made it impossible for the team to win.

Lamouchi said it was the first defeat for the Elephants after playing 10 matches since he took over in 2012.

He said the target was to win the AFCON 2013 finals, noting that he filed out the best team for the tournament.

In another interview with a local newspaper, Yao Kouassi, Gervais, an inspiring member of the team,  said it was difficult to accept the results.

Lamouchi’s recruitment for the job had been dogged by controversy, which includes the abrupt removal of the former coach, Zahui Francois, who took the Elephants of the finals.

Sports analysts and journalists took the Ivorian Football Federation to task for the removal of the former coach and finally concluded that it was politically motivated.

The former coach’s removal left a bad taste and left higher expectations from Lamouchi, whose only coaching experience was with a club side in France.

Lamouchi also has a poor record when compared to his predecessor and he was handling a national team for the first time, leaving a huge gap on experience.