adminCOTE D’IVOIRE may have lost their place as the top-ranked team in Africa — they are now third behind Algeria and Tunisia— but they still boast a squad that is arguably the strongest on the continent.With Yaya Toure, his brother Kolo, Serge Aurier, Gervinho, Seydou Doumbia and Wilfried Bony at his disposal, coach Renard can call on star player as he seeks to lift the Elephants from nearly men to champions.
In 2012, it was Renard who steered Zambia to the trophy at the expense of the Ivorians — now he wants to lead his new side to glory and the Frenchman is in confident mood.
He said: “We have had a super training camp where the players were very receptive. For the moment everything is great but the most important thing is the competition.
“Guinea are difficult opponents with lots of pace. They have a coach who has been there for four and a half years and does a good job so we need to be wary so that we don’t get caught out and start well.”
Guinea are widely considered to be the weakest team in the group and it would be a big surprise if they reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2008. Under French coach Michel Dussuyer they finished second behind Ghana in qualifying, with Seydouba Soumah of Slovan Bratislava scoring five times in six games.
Dussuyer is making his third Cup of Nations appearance as Guinea coach.
Guinea will be without captain Kamil Zayatte, who has a leg injury.
The 29-year-old Sheffield Wednesday centre-back has a leg injury and has not been training with the team.
Cote d’Ivoire captain Yaya Toure, has also missed training but coach Herve Renard says it is a precautionary measure to ensure the midfielder is fresh.
“He has played a lot, notably between Christmas and New Year, for Manchester and the most important thing is Tuesday (today),” Renard said. — BBC Sport
Online Reporter