Ten
years after lifting the trophy, Ivory Coast are far
from being in title-winning form.
For many of the
players, the price of failure is etched firmly in the
memory.
The team were
detained at a military boot camp for being knocked out
in the first round at Ghana and Nigeria 2000.
Morale has also been
bruised after a weak finish in World Cup qualifying
which saw Tunisia beat them to the finals.
Ivory Coast still
have plenty of good players, not least Marseille's
mercurial striker Ibrahim Bakayoko and Feyenoord's
Bonaventure Kalou.
And after
experimenting with a series of French coaches, The
Elephants have now gone for one of their own.
Few, though, would
bet on Bamba being able to find a winning formula with
a side that has suffered such disillusions.
[BBC]
