BY CIARÁN FAHEY
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast has bounced from despair and embarrassment to joyous relief at the Africa Cup of Nations. And belief is daring to return.
The host nation was on the brink of elimination after a shock 4-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea in their final group game. That came after a 1-0 loss to old rival Nigeria and it left the team reliant on results in other groups to somehow squeeze through to the knockout rounds.
Most didn’t believe it was possible. Disappointed Ivory Coast fans vandalized commuter buses outside Alassane Ouattara Stadium, and the Ivorian Football Federation fired French coach Jean-Louis Gasset “for insufficient results.”
The federation promoted Gasset’s assistant, Emerse Faé, to interim head coach, though it looked unlikely that the former Ivory Coast midfielder would be in charge for any Africa Cup games.
Then Morocco defeated Zambia 1-0 to leave Ivory
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