Football
PA Sport 9y

Ivory Coast coach Herve Renard: Last chance of glory for big stars

Ivory Coast coach Herve Renard has warned his team's star players that Sunday's African Nations Cup final could be their last chance to win a major international trophy.

The Elephants take on Ghana in Bata looking to win the tournament for the first time since their only success 1992. The country boasts Premier League stars like Yaya and Kolo Toure and Wilfried Bony, and used to have Didier Drogba leading their line, but all that individual quality has failed to translate into continental success.

The match in Bata has been billed as a "dream final" between two sides established on the world stage and Renard, who led Zambia to a shock African Nations Cup victory in 2012, has motivated his men to overcome the final hurdle.

"Today I'm feeling every day the same way and same team spirit that we had with Zambia in 2012,'' Renard said on the CAF website.

"Of course, there's always a different story with every team in football, but I would like to congratulate my players because they have all put in a lot of effort in this AFCON, including the ones people would refer to as the big stars.

"They're performing, they have forgotten their star status and put the team first and I've been reminding them that some of them would be coming to the AFCON for the last time and if they don't win now, they will never do.

"I've told them it's their last chance to win and I think it is motivating them as well. It will be a tough game on Sunday because Ghana is a specialist of the AFCON.

"They have played eight finals and this will be their ninth and in 1992 they lost to Ivory Coast. But I can't think even for one second about failing in the final.''

Ivory Coast reached the final courtesy of a 3-1 win over DR Congo, while Ghana were comprehensive 3-0 winners over hosts Equatorial Guinea in a match marred by crowd trouble. The match was suspended for half-an-hour after the Ghana fans were bombarded with bottles and other objects from rival supporters.

Ivory Coast's victory in 1992 came after a dramatic 11-10 penalty shootout win over Ghana in the final.

Ghana will be out for revenge, especially having not won the competition since 1982, their fourth title. But Renard, who is aiming to become the first coach to win the African Nations Cup with two different countries, believes the Ivorians can learn from the success of his Zambia side.

He said: "We have a strong spirit and that was the first thing I wanted to build into this team the first time I took charge -- strong team spirit. I repeat all the time that the most important thing about a squad is the team, not the individual players.

"So you must build your team because, even if you have the big stars and add so many names, but don't play together, you cannot achieve anything.

"The best example was Zambia. I've heard many times that Zambia won in 2012 because of luck but that is not true. Zambia won because of hard work and excellent team spirit. Zambia is a good football nation and we built a very good team spirit.

"Nobody could beat us and nobody was able stand in our way because we had such fantastic spirit, dedication and hard work.''

^ Back to Top ^