AFCON: IVORY COAST SACK GASSET AS COACH DESPITE POSSIBILITY OF MAKING 2ND ROUND

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Jean-Louis Gasset has been sacked as coach of 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast two days after their 4-0 defeat against Equatorial Guinea.

It was the heaviest home defeat in Ivory Coast history and they are the first Afcon host to lose two group games since they did so in 1984.

The Elephants still carry faint hopes of progressing to the last 16 as one of the best third-placed teams.

They will be led by Emerse Fae, one of Gasset’s coaches, on an interim basis.

The country’s football federation said it had “terminated the contracts” of 70-year-old Gasset and his assistant Ghislain Printant “due to insufficient results”.

Ivory Coast finished the pool stage on three points in Group A having also lost 1-0 to Nigeria following a 2-0 win against Guinea-Bissau in their opening match.

The hosts must now wait on the results of the last group games on Wednesday to see if they sneak through.

Their hopes of progressing despite their shock defeat in Abidjan were boosted when Group B ended with Ghana finishing third in the table on two points.

Former Bordeaux coach Gasset was appointed by the federation in May 2022, replacing his compatriot Patrice Beaumelle.

Beaumelle’s contract was not renewed after the Elephants missed out on 2022 World Cup qualification and exited the last Nations Cup in Cameroon.