Emerse Fae on Ivory Coast’s run from brink of group-stage exit to AFCON final - 'It's like a dream'

Ivory Coast interim head coach Emerse Fae said his side’s run to the Africa Cup of Nations final was “like a dream” after they beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 on Wednesday.

The achievement is made all the more remarkable given they were on the brink of an early elimination after losing 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea in their final group game.

But after sacking manager Jean-Louis Gasset, they scraped through to the last 16 as the fourth and final third-placed team before beating holders Senegal, Mali and then booking their spot in the final through Sebastien Haller’s 65th-minute goal at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium.

“We are happy, we're really moved,” Fae said. “It's like a dream, when you go back two weeks to the defeat here against Equatorial Guinea.

“It was hard then to imagine that we might qualify for the final of our own AFCON.”

Fae, who was Gasset’s assistant, was promoted to the role of interim coach following his dismissal and has overseen a dramatic change in fortunes for the host nation.

Ivory Coast will now take on Nigeria in Sunday’s final after Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho scored the winning penalty to beat South Africa 4-2 on penalties in the other last-four showdown.

Should Fae’s side prevail, it will cap off a remarkable turnaround and seal Ivory Coast’s third AFCON crown.

“As long as you still have a five or 10% chance you need to keep believing, because that is what makes football beautiful,” said midfielder Franck Kessie, who was named player of the match against DR Congo.

“After the Morocco result we knew we had qualified and that changed everything. It gave us the strength we needed, it boosted us. We knew we couldn't do worse than in the first round.

“We need to keep going like this because you can't go all the way to the final only to then give up.”

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