Ivory Coast national team coach Emerse Faé says his side remains focused on winning today’s Group G encounter against Zambia despite having already sealed their spot at the Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
The reigning African champions saw their qualification for the AFCON sealed on Wednesday night after the 1-1 draw between Sierra Leone and Chad in another Group G match played in the Ivorian capital Abidjan.
However, Emerse Faé has said that the Elephants’ sights remain set on beating the Chipolopolo at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola tomorrow evening.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference in Ndola, Faé said the Ivorians want to collect maximum points against Chipolopolo in order to atone for their shocking 1-0 defeat away to Sierra Leone in the previous round of qualifiers as well as finish at the summit of Group G to be among the top seeded teams at the next AFCON.
“We are coming from a loss which made us lose some points on the FIFA rankings but this is a different game and we want to win in order for us to maintain our position in the group so that we can be among the top six team in the draws for the AFCON,” Faé said.
Faé insisted that he had not made any changes to his side’s game approach against the Chipolopolo despite having learnt of their qualification.
“We have not changed any of our plans and we will play like we planned to play before we came here,” he said.
Faé further declared his charges ready to give their best to down the Chipolopolo at their own backyard.
“We are here to win, we did not come here just to play but to win and we are going win. We are ready and going to do everything to make us win,” he said.
