Seko Fofana’s determination to win allowed Ivory Coast to perform the miracles that led them to the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Abidjan on Wednesday. This is the statement of the midfielder after a long period of misunderstanding in the country.
In the last edition of the CAN in 2022, the midfielder declined the opportunity to play for Ivory Coast, preferring to stay at Lens. Ivory Coast lost its power and was eliminated in the round of 16 by Egypt. In forums, Elephants fans criticized Fofana for feeling more French than Ivorian.
“That’s all in the past now. We’ve forgiven him for somewhat disregarding the team in the past,” said journalist Choilio Diomandé to AFP, who follows the Ivory Coast national team for the magazine Abidjan Sports. “Today, we couldn’t accept Ivory Coast playing without Seko Fofana. He’s the midfield boss, the leader, and he scored both goals against Mali (2-1 in extra time in the quarter-finals).”
The former Lens player “has entered the hearts of Ivorians; he’s a fighter, he gives everything, the will to win,” adds Diomandé, an influential local football columnist. The furious comments on social media against the “French”, led by Seko Fofana, born in Paris, trained at Paris FC and then at Lorient, no longer exist.
“I pray for a ball”
When Jean-Louis Gasset, the coach who left midway through the tournament after the defeat to Equatorial Guinea (0-4) in the group stage, took over the team in 2022, he negotiated with the player to convince him to return. And it has been a great success, despite an unsuccessful first phase. “He has been involved in practically every goal scored by the Elephants in the African Nations Cup,” Gadji Celi, captain of the first Ivory Coast team to win a CAN in 1992, told AFP.
Fofana, who recently transferred from Al-Nassr to Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, scored the first goal for the Elephants in the tournament against Guinea-Bissau (2-0), and it was two of his goals that led to the equalizer in the last minute and the victory in extra time over Mali’s Eagles in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
“Talent speaks for itself,” says the player himself: “Simon (Adingra) made the difference with the first goal (from a shot deflected by Fofana), and then I struck and he (Oumar Diakité) followed well and scored in the last situation (120+1).”
Regarding the winning goal: “Before that, I pray to have a ball and a shot because I know that in moments like this, we tend to panic. I hit the ball well, Oumar was well positioned behind me, and he scored.”
The example
Seko Fofana’s strength, which made the Bollaert stadium in Ligue 1 vibrate, has a lot to do with it. “He fights a lot and puts an enormous amount of energy into everything he does,” says Gadji Celi.
“He’s a great midfielder, very experienced, an example, and one of the best players on the team,” adds the former footballer who has become a very popular singer in Ivory Coast, where he is known as The King.
As for his intermittent relationships with the national team, only 17 games (6 goals) since the first one in 2017, “he had his reasons, which have been resolved, the main thing is that he’s here,” says Gadji Celi. Fans have forgotten all of this, impressed with the incredible finish by the Elephants against Mali, in the orange heat of Bouaké on Saturday night.
“We felt it throughout the game,” says Seko Fofana. “We felt that we are a united country, even though we have been through difficult times, especially after the game against Equatorial Guinea, when we were insulted, we were at rock bottom. But we are happy to have made history.”
All is forgiven.
