Ivory Coast may have smiled at Togo’s exit, but they still face an uphill task

By Confidence Musariri, Windhoek

WINDHOEK: Even if another country were to replace Togo today in the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament or if reigning champions Egypt were to be re-drafted into Group B in place of Togo, Ivory Coast would still be celebrating.

Togolese great Emmanuel Adebayor in action

The Elephants are one team that kicked off the tournament without any hope of  going far  as long as Togo was in Group B and they knew that all along.

Past records have shown that every time Ivory Coast are in the same group as Togo at the Nations Cup, the Elephants have never gone past the group stages even in cases where they came in as pre-tournament favourites.

In 1984, Ivory Coast was drawn in the same group as Togo, Cameroon and Egypt, and the team ended the first round in the third position.

In 2000, in Ghana, it was the same as the Elephants finished in third place in a Group that host Ghana, Cameroon and Togo. And in 2002 in Mali, the Hawks (Togo) were drawn with DR Congo, Ivory Coast and Cameroon and the Elephants finished at the bottom of the Group.

We thought the curse had withered off when Togo went home, but alas, Ivory Coast’s draw with Burkina Faso proved otherwise.

Maybe the fact that Togo is still regarded as having been in Group B still leaves the omen hanging on Ivory Coast because they are still in hot soup and need to beat Ghana on Friday to qualify for the next round. And that is a mammoth task. IA

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