AFCON 2017: Cote d’Ivoire face Le Roy’s Togo
Champions Cote d'Ivoire begin their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title defence on a cagey note today as they face Togo in their opening Group C game at Stade d’Oyem.
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While the Ivorians may be favourites going into the game, the Togolose cannot be easily dismissed, given that they are in Gabon on an image redemption mission that is being masterminded by one of the most experienced and, perhaps, most travelled technical brains around the continent, Frenchman Claude Le Roy.
After earlier botched campaigns, the most poignant being the abortive trip to Angola in 2010, the Hawks are back to lay claim to history and have found the man often referred to as the ‘white wizard of Africa football’ as most suited to lead their quest.
Le Roy’s travels around the continent, from Cameroun through to Ghana to Congo and now to Togo, make him one of the most experienced at the AFCON and has been largely successful.
Since taking over the Hawks of Togo, Le Roy who has led five different countries to previous AFCONs, has managed to renew the sense of pride and nationalism in the Togo team and being able to talk their star player, Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor, back into the squad is an indication of what he wants to achieve.
In the Ivorian conrner will be Michael Dussuyer who has installed a solid defensive set-up that teams have found hard to crack and as, defending champions, they will definitely be going all out as they seek to join the prestigious list of the teams that have successfully won back-to-back titles.
Cote d'Ivoire has lost most of the key players who delivered the title two years ago in Equatorial Guinea, but there are still some known players who have what it takes go all the way.
Dussuyer's success in getting Wilfried Zaha to ditch England for the Elephants is indicative of what he intends to achieve in Gabon and only one can imagine what will happen in this opening game as both set out to put their best foot forward to help them eventually claim one of the two spots from the group.
Without much action from Adebayor in Europe this season, it will be interesting to see how he leads his teammates against an Ivorian defence.