Ivory Coast - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

Injury-hit Mali include two newcomers in African Cup of Nations squad

AFCON 2023

INJURY-HIT Mali has named uncapped Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Boubacar Traore and Lorient striker Sirine Doucoure in their squad for this month’s African Cup of Nations finals. Traore, who joined Wolves from Metz in France last year after an initial loan spell, has previously played for Mali at junior level, including winning the African under-20 championship in 2019. Doucoure has served mainly as a substitute this season and has scored one goal in Ligue 1. Coach Eric Chelle, who will be without several key players in the Ivory Coast, brought in both players as replacements in his 27-man squad ahead of…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Nsue to captain Equatorial Guinea at Cup of Nations finals

AFCON 2023

VETERAN striker Emilio Nsue will captain an Equatorial Guinea squad with a strong Spanish flavour at the African Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast this month after being named part of the 27-man squad for the tournament. The 34-year-old Nsue, formerly with Birmingham City and Middlesbrough, is one of 12 players based at Spanish clubs named in the squad selected by coach Juan Micha and released on Monday. It features the bulk of the team that upset holders Algeria at the last finals and went onto a surprise quarter-final appearance at a tournament in Cameroon, but also includes…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s Partey and Lamptey miss out on Cup of Nations finals

AFCON 2023

GHANA left out injured Premier League players Thomas Partey and Tariq Lamptey from their 27-man squad named for the African Cup of Nations finals in neighbouring Ivory Coast, which kicks off later this month. Partey’s omission comes as Ghana coach Chris Hughton said he had been given more time to recover from a hamstring injury. “Withstanding his injury, he certainly would be in the squad. We know the quality of the player that he is. This is a player that has a substantial injury,” Hughton told a press conference on Monday. “I’ve spent a lot over this period of time…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Hosts Ivory Coast leave Zaha out of African Cup of Nations squad

AFCON 2023

IVORY Coast's Galatasaray winger Wilfried Zaha has not been called up by coach Jean-Louis Gasset in the country's 27-man African Cup of Nations squad which was named on Thursday. The 31-year-old, who moved to Turkey from Crystal Palace in the close season, has only played in two friendlies for Ivory Coast this year, missing their Cup of Nations qualifiers and last month's first round of World Cup qualifying. Gasset has included Nottingham Forest's Serge Aurier, Ibrahim Sangare and Willy Boly plus Al-Ahli midfielder Franck Kessie and Trapzonspor winger Nicolas Pepe, who returns after a year's absence. Hajduk Split's Chester Diallo…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast upgrades sports infrastructure ahead of Africa Cup of Nations

NEWS

IVORY Coast has built roads and constructed four new sports stadiums in preparation for hosting the Africa Cup of Nations, the soccer tournament which will kick off in January. The West African country is eager to develop football locally and demonstrate its ability to host an international sporting event. "Ivory Coast will become a hub in the sub-region. All countries in the sub-region which do not have approved stadiums will be welcome," said Idriss Diallo, president of the Ivorian Football Federation. He estimated the country had invested more than $1 billion in roads, stadiums, hospitals and other infrastructure relating to…

Nov

2023

By LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY and MEDIA COULIBALY

Ivory Coast tourist haven battles coastal erosion and rogue waves

NEWS

ON a shrinking strip of beach in southeast Ivory Coast, hotel owner Habib Hassan Nassar has to stack thousands of sandbags each week to protect his property from the rising sea. Thanks to the metres-high sandbag barricade, the Kame Surf Camp hotel clings to its section of beach in the resort of Assinie, even as the waves hem the hotel in on three sides and, in a recent surge, devastated the businesses of its neighbours. "Frankly, I am exhausted," said Nassar, 50, who first came to the area as a child when this stretch of beach on the Gulf of…

Nov

2023

By MARK GLEESON

Ivory Coast win again in World Cup qualifiers as away teams hold sway

FOOTBALL

IVORY Coast's winning start to World Cup qualifying continued with a 2-0 victory over the Gambia as they were among five countries who had away success in group matches on Monday. Goals from Christian Kouame and Seko Fofana ensured success for the fancied Ivorians in Dar-es-Salaam, where Gambia hosted the game because their own stadia were not deemed fit enough to host international matches. Also victorious on the road were Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya and Madagascar while Mali were held to a surprise home draw as Africa’s preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup finals continued. The Ivorians, who will…

Nov

2023

By MARK GLEESON

Ivory Coast enjoy goal feast but Cameroon labour to victory

FOOTBALL

IVORY Coast enjoyed a goal rout at the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign but fellow African heavyweights Cameroon, Ghana and Tunisia made heavy work of home games against lowly opposition. The Ivorians, who will host January’s Africa Cup of Nations, won 9-0 at home to the Seychelles in their Group F opener in a bright start to their bid for a place at the 2026 finals when the World Cup will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Teenage striker Karim Konate and substitute Hamed Traore both scored twice in a game that might have seen a…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Ex-Credit Suisse chief Thiam eyes Ivory Coast 2025 presidential race

NEWS

THE former chief executive of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, submitted his candidacy to lead one of Ivory Coast's main opposition parties, which could put him in the running for the 2025 presidential election. Thiam, 61, served as a minister under ex-president Henry Konan Bedie. He left the West African country after Bedie's ouster in a 1999 coup and worked for consultancy firm McKinsey, and insurers Aviva and Prudential before he was appointed Credit Suisse CEO in 2015. Five years later, he resigned from the Swiss bank following a major spying scandal in which he denied any involvement. Thiam recently returned…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Abundant rains, sun will help Ivory Coast’s cocoa crop

BUSINESS

DOWNPOURS mixed with sunny spells in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa regions will help cocoa trees go through the dry season, which runs from mid-November to March, farmers said. Last week's weather conditions will boost the size of the October-to-March main crop and improve the soil moisture content, helping the trees to reach their maximum potential from December to February, according to farmers from the world's top cocoa producer. "The rains are good. From now until February we'll have plenty of cocoa," said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near the western region of Soubre, where 49 mm fell last week,…