The AFCON came and went and the Ivory Coast did nothing. The World Cup qualifiers also started and finished and the Ivory Coast did nothing. But now they decided it was time to do something. The Elephants decided to part ways with their current coach when his contract expired and named a new boss: Jean-Louis Gasset. The 68-years old will be the heir to another Frenchman Patrice Beaumelle, whose results were disappointing. While at charge of the Ivory Coast team, the Elephants were eliminated by Egypt (0-0, 5-4 on penalties) last January in the round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon, and failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Enough for the departure.More Senegal footballers support Idrissa Gueye after refusing to participate in the LGBT celebrationSo, they swapped one Frenchman with another one, who has more experience, which Ivory Coast is obviously looking for. Gasset has managed a number of French teams, with the most famous being Montpellier, Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux, and on top of that, he was a long time assistant to Laurent Blanc and followed him in at Bordeaux, in the French team and then at Paris Saint-Germain in a eight year span. Gasset was appointed Ivory Coast from a position of current France coach Laurent Blanc’s assistant and was the choice of the new Ivory Coast Federation president Idriss Diallo.22.00: (2.19) Olympique Marseille (3.40) Strasbourg (3.40)Businessman and top leader of the FIFA in the 2000s, Diallo was elected the president just under a month ago, beating famous Didier Drogba in the process, as the Elephants legend was surprisingly eliminated in the first ballot. Diallo confirmed that Gasset was chosen among 22 candidates who applied for the job.„Our objective with Gasset is to win the next AFCON, or at least to go to the semi-finals, otherwise his contract will not be renewed for another year. Jean-Louis Gasset knows football and has the ability to organize and model and that’s what prevailed“ explained Idriss Diallo during a press conference in Abidjan.
