Cote d’Ivoire midfielder Jean-Michael Seri says, despite the team advancing on penalties, what matters is the fact that they have qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Seri, who was named man of the match for his industrious shift deep in the Ivory Coast midfield, has hailed his teammates for shrugging off a slow start to eventually edge out title favorites Senegal 5-4 via penalty shootouts after a 1-1 stalemate in regular time.
While attributing their remarkable turnaround since their 4-0 humiliation by Equatorial Guinea in their last Group A clash to interim coach Emerse Fae’s calming influence, Seri says they will fancy their chances on Saturday when they face the winner between Burkina Faso and Mali, who clash this evening at Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly.
“We did not start the match well, and after we conceded the goal, we responded to that, and we took control of the match, with a team performance. It doesn’t matter how we qualified, what matters is that we qualified”, said the midfielder.
“We were just calm. At halftime, the coach asked us to continue in the same way. We were very solid and united and fought for our nation. The important thing is that we qualified for the quarter-finals. Côte d’Ivoire qualified for the next round, and this is the most important thing for me”, concluded the midfielder.
