a third star for Ivory Coast or a fourth for Nigeria?

The CAN final takes place on Sunday in Abidjan. The Ivorian Elephants face the Nigerian Super Eagles. The Ivorian team, miraculous after coming close to elimination in the group stages, faces a Nigerian team that is already three-time African champion.

Sunday February 11, Ivory Coast will try to win its third African Cup of Nations (CAN). As the host nation, the Ivorians will play at home and in Abidjan, the capital, there is excitement. But opposite stands a team that is already a three-time African champion and a football gold medalist at the 1996 Olympic Games: Nigeria. A great football nation which has had great players like Jay Jay Okocha who moved to PSG, or Taribo West, a former Auxerre defender.

Ivory Coast : the Elephants, the Resurrected, the Returned

The Ivorian dailies, although very political, all headlined the victory on Thursday against the Leopards of the DRC. “It’s strong, it’s really strong, very very strong”, was the headline with humor. The Intelligent of Abidjan. While waiting for the CAN final, this Sunday, February 11, everyone is starting to believe it again, with Franck Kessié’s formula as the standard: “A ghost cannot be afraid”. The Ivorian midfielder made this statement at the end of the round of 16, won on penalties against Senegal, the reigning African champion. It was a long road to regain this confidence.

“We’re worthless, but we’re qualified”these words from a song by the singer Fior de Bior, taken up in unison by the supporters until the semi-final, underline the fairly poor level of play of the Elephants. Even the Ivorian players, adept at subtle self-deprecation, sang this unusual song on the bus taking them from the Bouaké stadium to their hotel.

The Ivorians came close to elimination, saved at the last minute by a victory for Morocco on the last day, allowing them to be last of the best third-placed teams. Since then, many Ivorian supporters have waved two flags: the orange-white-green of Côte d’Ivoire and the red of Morocco. And even if Nigeria beat Ivory Coast in the group stage, the Elephants, the Resurrected and even the Returned are no longer afraid of anything and are ready to carry out the heist of the century, after having come close to elimination.

Suspicions of corruption among members of the organization

This African Cup of Nations was presented by the organizers as the CAN of the century, but today they themselves are surely surprised that their marketing has come to fruition so well. It’s almost flawless this year, which is the most prolific in terms of goals with 113 goals, high quality football and great spectators. According to a ministerial source, 200,000 people came by air and just over 1.3 million by land. Visitors who would have brought in more than 1.2 billion dollars to the country. Figures, however, are difficult to verify, which coincide with the estimates given at the start of the CAN.

The black spot will remain the ticketing and the suspicions of corruption which hang over members of the organization, as it was difficult to obtain tickets despite strong demand and while during certain meetings, seats remained surprisingly empty. This was the case during the opening match, in particular, where 36,000 people took their seats in a stadium which can accommodate 60,000. Another downside: around this Ebimpé Olympic stadium, for security reasons, the authorities had decided to close the car park and cordon off the area for almost two kilometers around. Small failures that Ivory Coast can improve. The country hopes to become a preferred destination in tourism for major events, trade fairs, exhibitions and business.

Nigeria: The Super Eagles, national heritage

Nigeria has a solid chance of lifting the African Cup of Nations on Sunday evening. The country is in its eighth final in 20 appearances. It is a sure value of African football, and for the 220 million Nigerians, imagining defeat against Ivory Coast, on their home ground in Abidjan, is not at all possible. “It’s in our blood, it’s normal for us to fight to win”says Mudasser, a die-hard Super Eagles supporter.

The Super Eagles team is a true national heritage, it is the link of a nation often crossed by community, religious conflicts and security problems. In every crisis, the whole world thinks that Nigeria will falter and yet, it copes and then gets back up. Driven by this state of mind, the Super Eagles are considered the ambassadors of Nigeria, in the same way as Burna Boy or Davido, the stars of Afrobeat music or even the feminist writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Victor Osimhen, best African player in 2023

For this CAN final between Nigeria and Ivory Coast, the hope of an entire people rests on the crampons of an athlete with peroxide blonde hair, Victor Osimhen. At 25, he is Nigeria’s main asset. He was awarded the African Golden Ball last December. As a child, he sold sachets of water on the streets of Lagos. Despite headwinds, little Victor hangs on. He trained in a football academy, the African equivalent of European training centers, and left for Europe. He played in Germany in 2017, had a short stay in Belgium, then it was in France, in Lille, that he exploded on the pitches of Ligue 1. Then, Naples bought his contract for 70 and 80 million euros . Since then, the Nigerian number 9 has brought joy to the city that made a certain Diego Maradona king. All of Nigeria is therefore counting on Victor Osimhen to bring the African Cup home.