New coach Emerse Fae can join elite list if Ivory Coast win Cup of Nations
It would be an extraordinary achievement for the French-born former Ivorian international, who played for his country in the 2006 final albeit on the losing side.
He had been assistant to veteran French coach Jean-Louis Gasset over the last 18 months but was thrust into the top job when Gasset was sacked at the end of a disastrous group round at the tournament. The hosts barely scraped into the knockout stage as the last of the best four third-placed finishers.
They needed other results to go their way and it took an agonising three day wait between their last group game - a humiliating 4-0 loss to tiny Equatorial Guinea - and the end of the group games before they knew their fate.
By that time Gasset had been sent packing and Fae put in charge, despite the fact his only previous coaching experience was at youth level in France.
The Ivorians had hoped former coach Herve Renard, a two-time Cup of Nations winner, would be loaned to them for the rest of the tournament by France where he is the women’s national team coach, but their request was turned down.
"We had difficult days emotionally and mentally and we came through the back door," admitted Fae. "Losing 4-0 at home was terrible, and then afterwards we had to wait. Honestly, it was very difficult to work, to heal the wounds while crossing your fingers."
Fae made several key changes and the Ivorians showed impressive mental fortitude in overcoming holders Senegal in the last 16 and neighbours Mali in the quarter-final, coming from behind in both matches.
Their semi-final victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo continued the comeback.
Local press have dubbed Fae the "Special One".
"No, no, no, that’s not true," he replied on Saturday when asked about the tag first used for Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho. "It has been a collective to get us all here."
Fae had always intended to coach after his club career, which included a brief spell at English club Reading, came to a premature end because of injury. He worked at Clermont Foot and Nice before Gasset asked him to join the Ivorian staff.
"It was difficult for us to imagine we’d get to the final but now we are here and on merit. Now we have the opportunity to win the cup at our home. We’ll be going all out to do so."