Ivoirian midfielder Didier Ya Konan
The
Elephants are on the warpath in search of their second continental
crown following that of 1992, and will try to forget their repeated
failures of 2006 and 2012 which saw them defeated in both finals,
following penalty shootouts against Egypt and Zambia.
Led
by coach Sabri Lamouchi, who replaced François Zahoui last May, Didier
Drogba and his teammates are counting on their wealth of experience to
reach their goal.
“Our
experience and our solidarity will make the difference. Starting with
Togo. If we show solidarity, there will be no reason not to win the
match against the Sparrowhawks,” assured international striker Arouna
Koné.
And for their
big debut in the South African tournament, the Elephants are rearing to
go with a full house and no injury concerns.
But Togo refuse to wear the loser’s badge as a foregone conclusion for their debut at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
Because
despite a warm-up period perturbed by internal conflict, the coach of
the Sparrowhawks Didier Six can count on Emmanuel Adebayor and many of
his other stars to lead the way.
Labelled the underdogs of Group D, the Togolese national team have every intention of being a killjoy at this Afcon CAN 2013.
“We
did not come here for a holiday,” warned FC Lorient’s international
midfielder Alaixys Romao on Sunday following their training session.
