adminOyem. — Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha is set to make his competitive debut for Ivory Coast as they begin their defence of the Africa Cup of Nations title.
Zaha switched international allegiance from England ahead of the tournament and already has an assist and a goal from his two warm-up appearances.
Togo will be skippered by striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who has not had club since leaving Crystal Palace in June.
Coach Claude LeRoy is making a record-extending ninth finals appearance. The Belgian, who won the title in 1988 and has only once failed to reach the quarter-finals, will be eager to take Togo deep into the tournament.
However, the Sparrow Hawks have never won the competition and their best result was reaching the quarter-finals in 2013.
Ivory Coast have won the Nations Cup twice, defeating Ghana after marathon penalty shootouts in Senegal (1992) and in Equatorial Guinea (2015) following goalless draws.
The Elephants were ranked second in Africa and 34th in the world by Fifa this month, while Togo were 23rd in Africa and 90th in the world. And the Ivorians have never lost to Togo in four previous meetings at the Nations Cup finals. They have won 3-0 (1984) and 2-1 (2013) and drawn 1-1 (2000) and 0-0 (2002).
Ivory Coast coach Michel Dussuyer: “The objective is to retain the title so proudly won two years ago. It will not be easy as there are some great teams in Gabon.”
Togo captain Adebayor: “When I view the Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal squads, I realise we are not among the best on paper, but there will be 23 highly committed Togolese footballers at the Africa Cup of Nations.” — BBC.
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