AFCON: Ivory Coast coach impressed with display against Burkina Faso

Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Faé admitted he was impressed with the performance of his players after they demolished Burkina Faso to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco on Tuesday.

The African champions kept their quest for back-to-back AFCON titles as they qualified for quarterfinals following a commanding 3-0 victory over the Stallions at Stade de Marrakech.

Amad Diallo opened the scoring and provided an assist for the second goal to set the Elephants to an emphatic win in the West African derby. Diallo put them ahead after pouncing a loose ball inside the area.

Twelve minutes later, Diallo turned provider with a moment of quality. He delivered a low, inviting cross across the face of goal for Ousmane Diomandé, who took a composed first touch before drilling a low finish past the goalkeeper to double the advantage.

Diomandé scored the third after he latched onto a precise pass from Odilon Kossounou before finishing confidently at the near post.

‘Several aspects of our game pleased me’

“I really liked our reaction when we lost the ball. Every time possession was lost, the players reacted immediately,” Faé told the mediaas quoted by CAF.

“They were under pressure at times and put in difficult situations, but they made a real effort to recover the ball very, very quickly. There were many interceptions, duels won and balls regained directly from the opponent’s feet.

“That aspect of our game pleased me a lot. What truly makes me happy is that beyond individual performances, it was the strength of the team in entirety that really stood out tonight.”

Ivory Coast will now face Egypt in the last eight contest while the Stallions’ journey came to an end at the 35th edition of the AFCON.