Former Ivory Coast star Sol Bamba admits the Africa Cup of Nations hosts need to prove their worth.
The ex-Cardiff and Leeds defender believes the team have fallen short at the tournament too many times.
The hosts, who open the tournament against Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan on Saturday, have only won the competition twice, the last coming in 2015.
Final defeats in 2008 and 2012, with Bamba playing in their penalty loss to Zambia 12 years ago, still hurt and the 38-year-old knows it is time for the squad to step up.
“Have we done enough? We know we haven’t because we should have won at least two more Africa Cup of Nations, definitely,” he told the PA news agency.
“Losing in 2012 was huge because we hadn’t won it since 1992. So we were absolutely desperate.
“We had what people called a golden generation with top players. We went as favourites, didn’t concede a goal and we ended up losing. The disappointment was absolutely huge. We talk about it between ourselves, we felt we missed a trick.
“Now we have top players playing in Europe but the difference of handling pressure in Europe and hosting a tournament in Africa is different.
“The expectation will be huge. In Africa it’s more than football. The first game will be massive. For Ivory Coast, though, winning games is not enough, you have to play a certain way.”
Manager Jean-Louis Gasset has omitted Galatasaray’s Wilfried Zaha for the tournament and Bamba hopes he does not regret the decision.
“It’s controversial because he’s a top player,” said Bamba, who earned 46 caps for his country.
“When you’re a top player you have to be picked for the national team. The manager said it was for the balance of the team, that they’ve got too many right-footed players on the wing.
“For me, this is an excuse. When you’re a manager you need to pick your best players and it is your job to make them perform at the highest level.
“The most important thing is he doesn’t really gel with the group, he keeps himself to himself. You also have to pick a team according to the dynamic of the group.
“The fans know it’s the main reason he’s not been picked. They had better have a good tournament otherwise everyone will be on his (Gasset’s) back.”
Seven-time champions Egypt, with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah spearheading their challenge, face Mozambique in Group B on Sunday and Senegal start their title defence against Gambia in Group C on Monday.
View this post on Instagram
Senegal, with Tottenham midfielder Pape Sarr, are favourites with the final due to be held on February 11 at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, leaving Premier League clubs waiting to see when their stars will return.
Ghana, coached by former Newcastle and Brighton boss Chris Hughton, boast West Ham’s in form Mohamed Kudus and Crystal Palace’s Jordan Ayew.
Arsenal will be without Thomas Partey (Ghana) and Mohamed Elneny (Egypt) while Nottingham Forest will miss seven players, including Cheikhou Kouyate and Serge Aurier, in a blow to new boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
Manchester United have Andre Onana (Cameroon), Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco) and Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast) away.
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
