FAE HAILS IVORY COAST AMBITION AFTER ECUADOR WIN.

Ivory Coast coach Emerse Fae believes his side has shown they belong on the
World Cup stage after Amad Diallo’s late winner secured a 1-0 victory over Ecuador
in their Group E opener on Sunday.

The Elephants left it late, but Diallo’s decisive strike handed the Africans a perfect
start to their first World Cup campaign since 2014.

Fae said the result reflected the ambition and progress of his youthful squad, which
has continued to impress following recent victories over South Korea, Scotland, and
France.

“We came to the US for this, and we came here with ambitions, with high hopes,”
Fae told reporters.

“We don’t want to have just visited the US and have to go back. We’ve beaten
France, and now we’ve started this competition well against Ecuador, a very tough
team.”

The Ivory Coast coach praised his players for standing up to an experienced
Ecuador side, led by Moises Caicedo, Willian Pacho, and Piero Hincapie, before
finding a way to win.
“This shows that our team has acquitted itself well,” he added.

The result puts the Ivory Coast in a strong position ahead of a huge Group E clash
against Germany, who opened their campaign with a 7-1 demolition of Curacao.

“It will be a difficult match again. It’s Germany,” Fae said.

“They have lots of experience and players at the greatest European clubs. But we’ll
go there to win. We’ll go eyeball to eyeball with them and try to bring down the
German wall.”

The victory keeps alive the Ivory Coast’s dream of reaching the World Cup knockout
rounds for the first time in their history.