Despite taking a first-half lead through captain William Troost-Ekong’s header, the Super Eagles fell to the Ivorians in the second phase of the game, with goals from former Barcelona midfielder, Franck Kessie and Dortmund striker Sebastien Haller, ensuring the Ivorians emerged as champions.
In a reflection of the tournament with GoalFrance, the Portuguese manager noted some factors that contributed to his team losing to the host in that final.
He said, speaking as quoted on Owngoalnigeria.com,
“There are two things. First there is the fact that Cote d’Ivoire reached the final of the competition having avoided the worst each time. Thye were almost eliminated three times. In the final, they were more liberated. Thye weren’t under as much pressure as at the start of the competition. Second thing, I think the energy there was that day in the stadium touched us.”
“If I had ton rate our performance, it was perhaps our worst game. In the previous matches, we have always been in control and we created a lot of opportunities. But in this match, even at 1-0 for us, we were feverish. the atmosphere penalized my players.” he added.
“We didn’t have the same abilities. There were too many lost ball. If I had to analyze, I would say that 2 0r 3 of my players played at their true level. They wanted to do their best, but they couldn’t,” he further added.
On the reason behind the nervousness of some of the players, he mentioned their inexperience in navigating through such atmospheric situations in finals, especially because it was against the host.
“I’m sure if another final was played a week later, we would have won it because many players have never had the experience of a CAN final phase. 14 of our players have never played in a can final phase. While the Ivorians has experienced players. We tried to play down the event, trying to forget the pressure and the responsibilities that weighed on our shoulder, b ut it wasn’t enough,” he said.
In concluding the interview with GoalFrance, the 63-year-old said,
“Yes, the final is about winning and we must seize this opportunity. But we still felt nervous in the semi-final against South Africa. Once again, the atmosphere made the environment not conducive to a great performance from us. And it’s also my responsibility, I should have made sure that they were more liberated. I am still very happy with them and proud.”
