Ivory Coast coach rues poor showing

Source: The Nation Newspaper Published:Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Ivory Coast mentor Vahid Halilhodzic admitted that his side were well below par after they were knocked out of the African Cup of Nations on Sunday.

Desert Foxes

substitute Hameur Bouazza scored the decisive goal two minutes into extra-time as Algeria dumped the pre-tournament favourites out with a dramatic victory in Cabinda.

The Elephants let a 2-1 lead disappear in the last minute of the fixture as Madjid Bougherra headed home to take the tie into extra-time.

"Great teams do not let a 2-1 lead a few minutes before full-time slip like that," the Bosnian-born former Yugoslavian international told SAPA.

"It is unacceptable. We had opportunities to kill off the match before that and we are all really stunned. We came here with great hopes and as is always the case Ivory Coast has failed to deliver.

"It is imperative that everyone assumes their responsibility for this, me to start with. We have five or six really good players but we lost every duel.

"It is not a physical problem it is a mental one. I do not have all the answers but I am ashamed with regard to how we played and apologise to the Ivorian public who really believed in us.

"Is the problem physical or psychological? It cannot be physical because when you are one goal up with only one minute left, you just sit back and clinch victory. Algeria deserve their victory."

Algeria boss Rabah Saadane also expressed his disappointment in the poor showing of the Ivory Coast after his side booked a spot in semi-finals..

"I wasn't surprised by my team, but more by the decline of the Ivory Coast side," said Saadane.

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