4 months ago
32 Côte d’Ivoire striker Sebastien Haller has said the Elephants will go into Sunday’s AFCON 2023 final against Nigeria’s Super Eagles with revenge in mind.
The Eagles handed Côte d’Ivoire their first defeat of the tournament thanks to a 1-0 win courtesy of a William Troost-Ekong second half penalty.
Haller did not feature in the defeat as he was still recovering from injury.
The hosts were then on the brink of elimination in the group stage following a shock 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea in their final Group A game.
Luckily, they managed to qualify as one of the four best third placed teams and went all the way to the final thanks to wins against champions Senegal, Mali and DR Congo.
Haller was the hero in the semi-final win against DR Congo as his volley secured a first AFCON final appearance for Côte d’Ivoire since 2015.
Now standing in the way of the Ivory Coast and a third AFCON title is the Eagles.
Looking ahead to the big clash, Haller said via BBC Sport Africa, “It’s a final and you’re there to win it. We’ll analyse everything in order to gain our revenge.”
The Borussia Dortmund striker reflected on his team’s journey in the competition, the striker admitted the home fans have played a huge role for them to have come this far.
“It’s certain the public push us in every moment,” he said. “When the public is there and make noise and push us, that makes the difference.
“We knew we had the potential to succeed and go far in the competition. The quality on the field is all over. There were lots of things missing from the start of the competition, and we have been trying to find the things that were missing to perform.”
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