But whatever label, if ever a host nation has had a circuitous path to glory, then it is the Elephants at the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations as they came back from imminent defeat to become the first home team to take the title since Egypt in 2006.
They spluttered through the group stages of their own tournament, emerging as the last of the four best third-placed finishers with a paltry three points from their group games, before embarking on a run of narrow escapes that saw them end Senegal’s reign, come back to win against neighbours Mali despite being down to 10 men, and then take the title with a fairytale finish, as Sebastien Haller touched home the winner, some 18 months after his cancer diagnosis.
Their good fortune came from Morocco’s win over Zambia in the last of the group games, ensuring they advanced as one of the lucky losers. Had Morocco not won that game, the Ivorians would have been out after a horror start.
Playing at home, they were always going to be fancied, even though they have not been among Africa’s heavyweights since last winning the Cup of Nations in 2015.
But they laboured under a weight of expectation in their opening game, which was an unconvincing 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau, were then outmuscled by Nigeria before a humiliating 4-0 defeat against tiny Equatorial Guinea in a contest where everything that could go wrong for them did. It reminded of Brazil’s bemusing collapse against Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-final.
Equatorial Guinea’s humiliation of the hosts in the last group game rates, without doubt, as the biggest upset in the tournament’s history.
Rarely has a host been so humbled, and never in such an emphatic fashion. The crowd’s bewilderment turned into downright anger as the Ivory Coast players needed a police escort to take them off the pitch to jeers from those who had remained.
Incredible turnaround
It was an amazing turnabout in a matter of eight days from a bright start for the hosts when Seko Fofana scored after only four minutes of the tournament’s opening game against Guinea-Bissau.
There were then three days while the Ivorians waited to see whether they were still in their own tournament, which cost the state an estimated US$1-billion to put on.
While the other groups came to a close, the Ivorians sent packing their veteran French coach, Jean-Louis Gasset. The orders came from the government, although Gasset insisted he had quit rather than been sent on his way.
Herve Renard, coach of the Ivorians in their previous Cup of Nations triumph, was sought as an emergency replacement, but his employers, the French Football Federation, rejected the idea.
So, it was left to Gasset’s assistant, Emerse Fae, to take over, appointed on his 40th birthday. He was in the Ivorian midfield when they lost in the 2006 final in Cairo but with his coaching experience limited to the youth teams at Nice and Clermont Foot.
He drafted in former teammate Guy Demel, the ex-West Ham defender working as an analyst for Canal+’s French language coverage of the tournament, and the pair made some bold changes for their first game.
Changing the team
Gasset’s first names on the team sheet were always the midfield axis of Seko Fofana, Franck Kessie, and Ibrahim Sangare, but Fae drafted in Hull City’s Jean-Micahel Seri to cover the back four, with Kessie being dropped against Senegal.
But they were behind after four minutes and going out until Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy gave away a late penalty that Kessie, by then on as a substitute, tucked away. The Ivorians grimly held on to then triumph in the post-match penalty shootout.
The quarter-final against Mali saw Kessie restored, but Sangare dropped, but jittery centre back Odilon Koussounou gave away a penalty, which Yahia Fofana saved, and then got himself sent off for second caution before halftime.
Down to 10, the Ivorians then conceded in the 71st minute and looked to be heading out against their northern neighbour. But their determination was gripping as they kept surging forward, despite the numerical disadvantage, in search of salvation.
It came first from Simon Adingra in the 90th minute, dribbling into the box before laying the ball for Seko Fofana, whose shot was blocked but rebounded for Adingra to snatch up and score.
Like Adingra, Haller came off the bench after recovery from injury, having missed the early stages of the tournament, and headed against the crossbar in extra time, but the win was not secured until right at the end when Mali cleared a set piece to Seko Fofana, who fired at goal and it was deliberately deflected by Oumar Diakite for a dramatic victory.
The recovery was in full swing going into the semi-final against the Democratic Republic of Congo, although Haller’s winner had a touch of fortune about it, partially miscued but struck firmly into the ground so that the bounce carried it over the top of the goalkeeper and into the net.
Final joy
In the final, the Ivorians dominated early but allowed Nigeria back into the contest after the cooling break. Every game in the tournament had two stops for hydration, no matter how late at night, such was the heat and humidity.
The breaks were called in the 30th and 70th minutes and often had the effect of changing the tempo of the game, or seeing one side suddenly lose momentum and the balance of the game shift.
Nigeria led at the break, but the tide turned with Kessie’s equaliser, and then Haller got the winner to complete a most riveting month of twists, turns, and dramatic travails.
“When I think about all we went through, the hard times when we almost lost, and the matches where we came back in the last minutes, we have created some miracles. But it is also because we kept fighting to the last minute when the odds were against us,” said Fae, a Cup of Nations winner after only four matches as a senior coach in a barely believable feat.
“We feel relief firstly after all the difficulties. We were close to humiliation, but when we had a second chance, we were determined not to waste it,” he added.
The Ivory Coast begin their title defence against Mozambique on Wednesday with a Group F clash in Marrackech. They also have Cameroon and Gabon in what will be a tightly-contested pool.