Ivory Coast Aims to Bounce Back Against Canada After Loss to New Zealand
TORONTO – The Ivory Coast national team is looking to bounce back from a 1-0 loss to New Zealand on Saturday at the Canadian Shield Tournament when it faces Canada on Tuesday. According to The Canadian Press, Ivory Coast coach Emerse Fae is confident that his team can get a win against the 30th-ranked Canadians.
"We expect to win," Fae said, as quoted by The Canadian Press. "A big team can lose one game but a big team doesn’t lose two games in a row. We have to show people that we are able to beat countries of another region than Africa. It will be a game for us to show that we are able to win."
Canada, on the other hand, is coming off a 4-2 victory over No. 25 Ukraine in its tournament opener at BMO Field. According to The Canadian Press, Canada coach Jesse Marsch has said he will likely field an entirely different lineup against the 41st-ranked Africans, with veteran forward Cyle Larin leading the team out.
Marsch praised Ivory Coast, saying they have a lot of talent and could well be the top team in Africa. As reported by The Canadian Press, Ivory Coast is currently ranked fifth in Africa by FIFA — behind No. 12 Morocco, No. 19 Senegal, No 32 Egypt and No. 36 Algeria — but the Elephants are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions and have been ranked as high as No.12 in the world.
Against New Zealand, Ivory Coast paid for a turnover later in the first half that led to the game’s lone goal. The African side attacked throughout the second half but could not breach the All Whites defence. Fae expressed his disappointment with the loss, saying, "I was a little but disappointed, a little bit frustrated, because we had opportunities to score, to score first. But we didn’t," as reported by The Canadian Press.
Canada has never faced Ivory Coast before, and the last time it faced an African side was at the World Cup in Qatar in December 2022 when it lost 2-1 to Morocco in its final group-stage game. With regular captain Alphonso Davies out injured, vice-captain Stephen Eustaquio led the team out Saturday against Ukraine. Forward Jonathan David, who scored twice Saturday, will captain the side at the CONCACAF Gold Cup later this month while Eustaquio is with his club Porto at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Larin will wear the armband for the first time against Ivory Coast, and Marsch paid tribute to Larin’s savvy and insight into the Canadian team as well as his willingness to help younger players. As quoted by The Canadian Press, Marsch said, "Cyle is sometimes thought of as a quiet person and quiet leader, but he’s like a rock in the team. And a guy that is intelligent on the pitch, has quality, can score, does a lot of things that a lot of people don’t see and is an example to all of the attacking players we have — for the work rate, the intelligence and the commitment to what we have."
Ivory Coast currently leads Group F in African World Cup qualifying with a 5-0-1 record, one points ahead of Gabon in the six-country group that also includes Burundi, Kenya, Gambia and the Seychelles. Qualifying play resumes in September with the eventual group winner securing a berth in the World Cup. The four best runners-up from the nine African groups will participate in playoffs to determine a 10th qualifying team from the region.
This match against Canada will be an important test for both teams, and The Canadian Press will provide comprehensive coverage of the game.
