The Ivory Coast AFCON 2023 squad has been announced as the hosts look to win a first tournament since the days of Toure, Drogba and co.
Hosting a major international tournament is inevitably something of a double-edged sword. Huge partisan crowds can help roar a team on to victory, or ratchet up the pressure to intolerable levels.
There are plenty of instances of teams making home advantage count, but others have succumbed to the weight of expectation. Ivory Coast fans will be hoping it's the former for them as they welcome 23 other nations for the latest AFCON.
The Elephants have already been champions of Africa twice before - in 1992 and 2015 - and are determined to make it a hat-trick in front of their own supporters.
Although Jean-Louis Gasset's side are ranked 49th in the world - behind seven other African countries - they are confident that they have enough ability to bridge that gap on home turf.
Willy Boly and Evan Ndicka anchor a solid defence, with Frank Kessie and Seko Fofana offering technical quality in front of them. There is lots of pace and skill amongst their wide options and, if he starts, Sebastien Haller will be keen to recapture his best form.
Wilfried Zaha was a surprise omission having adapted well to life at Galatasaray, with former Manchester United centre-back Eric Bailly, now at Villarreal, also missing out.
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Franck Kessie keeps the ball in play as Jean-Louis Gasset watches on (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ivory Coast AFCON 2023 squad
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Jean-Louis Gasset served as Laurent Blanc's trusted assistant at Bordeaux, Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team. His managerial stints have often been brief, but he impressed in 18 months in charge of Saint-Etienne before resigning over disagreements with the board. He took on the Ivory Coast job in May 2022.
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Evan Ndicka (Image credit: Getty Images)
Evan Ndicka brings youth and athleticism to an ageing defence where Willy Boly and captain Serge Aurier are still mainstays. The 24-year-old centre-back, who left Eintracht Frankfurt to join Roma last summer, has quickly established himself in the Ivory Coast team after switching his international allegiance from France. The promising Ousmane Diomande waits in the wings.
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Sean Cole is a freelance journalist. He has written for FourFourTwo, BBC Sport and When Saturday Comes among others. A Birmingham City supporter and staunch Nikola Zigic advocate, he once scored a hat-trick at St. Andrew’s (in a half-time game). He also has far too many football shirts and spends far too much time reading the Wikipedia pages of obscure players.
