Gervinho: Cote d'Ivoire can succeed despite Afcon heartache

Feb 27, 2013 2:25:00 PM

The Arsenal striker has expressed disappointment with his side's failure to progress beyond the last eight, but insists the Elephants possess enough quality to flourish

Arsenal forward Gervinho is confident Cote d'Ivoire can move on from their Africa Cup of Nations heartache and build their success on an "excellent generation" of new players.

The Elephants, who have not lifted the Afcon title since doing so for the first time in their history in 1992, lost 2-1 to Nigeria at the quarter-final stage of the 2013 edition of the tournament in South Africa.

But the 25-year-old is remaining optimistic about the future, and feels his country are on the cusp of great things thanks to their emerging talents.

"I have bad memories about [losing to Nigeria]," Gervinho told Arsenal's official website. "It was one of the worst games the team played, we were not in it. It was a bad match and Nigeria deserved the trophy.

"This one is very painful because we never thought we would get knocked out in the quarter finals. Each year we get disappointed but we learn at the same time.

"I don't have any worries about Ivorian football, we have many players playing for big clubs, in big tournaments.

"There are new recruits with lots of skill, they just need to be trusted. There is a new excellent generation coming and I am not worried about it."

Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200
Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets
Sign up today with Coral and get a £50 FREE bet - no strings attached!
Sign up today with BetVictor and get a £25 FREE BET!

play

open

Inside Goal.Com

Player Ratings: Siena 1-2 AC Milan
Goal was on hand to judge all the players as Allegri's men finished third in Serie A and secured a Champions League berth next season
Player Ratings: Barcelona 2-1 Valladolid
Goal rates the players on show as the newly-crowned Liga champions cruised past the challenge of Miroslav Djukic's men to keep up hopes of reaching 100 points
Arsenal hold their nerve in top-four battle
Arsene Wenger's side produced a clinical performance to secure a top-four Premier League finish but now they must kick on if they wish to challenge for honours next year
Player Ratings: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal
Laurent Koscielny's 52nd-minute volley secured the Gunners the win over Alan Pardew's side and made sure they would be playing Champions League football next season
Player Ratings: West Brom 5-5 Man Utd
Sir Alex Ferguson was given a farewell to remember, but certainly not for the right reasons as the Romelu Lukaku-led hosts battled back from three goals down to earn an unlikely point