Coach d ismisses criticism of star striker

IVORY Coast coach Patrice Beaumelle has shrugged off criticism of star striker Sebastien Haller and hopes the Ajax marksman will quickly find his best form at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Haller disappointed in his side’s 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea having arrived at the tournament in Cameroon as one of the standout players of this season’s Uefa Champions League with Ajax, but Beaumelle said it was unfair to expect too much too soon from the 27-year-old.

“He was stuck indoors for 10 days with Covid and only arrived two days before the first match,” Beaumelle told reporters yesterday ahead of the Ivorians’ second Group E game against west African rivals Sierra Leone in Douala today (6pm).

“I decided to play him from the start in the first game so he could get his first experience of the Afcon and the intensity of it, given that it is a step up from what you get in the qualifiers.

“It was important for him to start but now I think, with three or four more days under his belt, he is becoming better acclimatised like all the players.

Haller has scored 22 goals this season for Dutch champions Ajax, including a remarkable 10 in six games in the Champions League group stage.

Born and brought up in the Paris suburbs, he played for France Under-21s but opted to represent the Ivory Coast – the land of his mother’s birth – after getting the call aged 26.

He made his debut for the Elephants in Afcon qualifying in November 2020.

Meanwhile, right-back Serge Aurier said the Ivory Coast squad had been boosted by a visit during the week from Didier Drogba, the Elephants legend who played in two Afcon final defeats, in 2006 and 2012.

“It’s always nice to see him but for some youngsters who had still not met him it was a dream come true,” said Villarreal defender Aurier of the now 43-year-old Drogba, who took part in training with the squad.

Meanwhile, Ghana are in danger as they still on one point and must beat Comoros in their final group game in Garoua on Tuesday to stand any chance of advancing as they seek their first title in 40 years.

The Black Stars were held to a 1-1 draw by Gabon on Friday. The match ended in an unsavoury punch-up after being littered with niggling fouls with Ghana’s Benjamin Tetteh sent off for a wild punch thrown in the post-match fracas.

Gabon’s point was wildly celebrated by their camp and made even sweeter by the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) refusal before the match to let their captain Pierre-emerick Aubameyang take part, even though he was training on the eve of the clash after being released from Covid-19 quarantine.

Tunisia’s problems at Afcon, meanwhile, were exacerbated by news that six of their players have tested positive for Covid-19 in a blow to their immediate prospects at the tournament in Cameroon.

Defender Dylan Bronn, Oussama Haddadi and Mohamed Drager and strikers Issam Jebali, Naim Sliti and Yoann Touzghar have all gone into isolation, the Tunisian Football Federation said.

It cuts down their selection options ahead of their second game in Group

F against Mauritania in Limbe this evening (6pm).

Tunisia were beaten 1-0 by Mali in a controversial first group game on Wednesday when the referee blew for fulltime four minutes early.

They later refused to return to the pitch to play the additional minutes but their protest against the outcome was rejected by CAF’S disciplinary committee, which has confirmed the result.