Ivory Coast Greatest All-Time Team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram

2015 African Nations' Cup

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Africa All-Time Team, 

African Born

 Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia
Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal,
North Africa, 
The Rest of Africa(excluding Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria and North Africa).
Ghana World Cup 2022

After gaining independence from France, Ivory Coast finished third in the 1963 and 1965, and fourth place in 1970 African Cup of Nations.  Until 2005, their greatest accomplishment was winning the 1992 African Cup of Nations against Ghana on penalties at the Stade Leopold Senghor in Dakar, Senegal. 

In October 2005, Ivory Coast secured qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which was to be their first-ever appearance at the tournament.  That Golden Generation would also qualify for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup Finals.  So the team has qualified for three consecutive World Cups; however, it has never advanced beyond the group.  They also won the 2015 African Cup of Nations after finishing second in 2012.  Again, they beat Ghana on penalties at the Estadio de Bata in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.

African Cup of Nations Champions 1992

Team
GK: Alain Gouaméné  
Alain Gouaméné played for ASEC Mimosas, Raja Casablanca, FC Toulouse, SCO Angers and FC Lorient. He was the star at the 1992 African Cup of Nations, where Ivory Coast beat Ghana in a penalty shootout in the Final.  He holds the record of games (24) and participations (7) in the African Nations Cup as goalkeeper of the Les Eléphants.  He also was a participant at the 1992 King Fahd Cup.  He was capped 58 times in total between 1987 and 2000.

Alain Gouaméné 

GK: Boubacar Barry

was the best goalkeeper at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations when the Ivorian’s won the African Cup of Nations. He represented Cote d’Ivoire in seven African Cup of Nations. - See more at: http://www.rascojet.com/blog/2011/12/10-african-goalkeepers-time/#sthash.hjZtBrlL.dpuf

was the best goalkeeper at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations when the Ivorian’s won the African Cup of Nations. He represented Cote d’Ivoire in seven African Cup of Nations. - See more at: http://www.rascojet.com/blog/2011/12/10-african-goalkeepers-time/#sthash.hjZtBrlL.dpuf

Barry played with K.S.K. Beveren, but made his name with Lokeren.  He played for them from July 2007 until June 2017, when he announced his retirement. He won the Belgian Keeper of the Year once.  For the national team, he was capped over 80 times.  He was a bench player for most of the 2015 Africans' Nations Cup, but started in the Final against Ghana.

GK: Jean-Jacques Tizié 

Jean Jacques Tizié has 26 selections for the national team from 1995 to 2007.  He was the starting goalkeeper at the 2006 World Cup Finals.  Ivory Coast also came second at the AFCON 2006. He was the only member of the team not with an European club at the time.  He played in Tunisia.  Before moving to Espérance de Tunis in 2000, Tizié has enjoyed spells with Lazer FC, Africa Sport and Stade d'Abidjan.

 

RB: Emmanuel Eboue 
Emmanuel Eboue played for  KSK Beveren, Arsenal, Sunderland and Galatasaray. He is best known for his stint with Arsenal between 2005 and 2011. Arsenal reached the Final of  the Champions League runner-up for the 2005–06 season. Eboué made his international debut for the Ivory Coast in 2004, eventually earning 79 caps by 2013. He was part of their squads at five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and two World Cups in 2006 and 2010. He was a fixture with the team.  

Emmanuel Eboue 

RB: Serge Aurier 

Aurier moved to France as a child and played for Lens, Toulouse and PSG, winning 11 major trophies with the latter. He totalled 169 appearances in Ligue 1 and was twice named in the competition's Team of the Year. In 2017, he joined Tottenham. He made his international debut for the Ivory Coast in 2013 and has earned over 40 caps. He represented the nation at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning the 2015 edition.

CB: Henry Konan  

Henry Konan played club football for Stade d'Abidjan during the 1960s and helped the club win the 1966 African Cup of Champions Clubs. He was known as one of pioneers for Ivory Coast in football and widely considered among the greatest ever defender for the country.  He played for Côte d'Ivoire at the 1965 and 1968 African Cup of Nations finals, where he would score a goal in the semi-final.  

CB: Kolo Toure  
Kolo Toure is Yaya Toure's brother.  He was a member of Arsenal's undefeated team in 2003-2004.  He later joined Manchester City andLiverpool. Touré is the second-most capped player for the Ivory Coast, with 118 appearances from 2000 to 2015. He represented the team at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cup Finals. Touré also represented the Ivory Coast at seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments between 2002 and 2015, helping them finish runner-up in 2006 and 2012, while winning in 2015.

CB: Cyril Domoraud
In 1996, Cyril Domoraud joined Girondins de Bordeaux of Ligue 1. In the next season he signed for Olympique de Marseille where he played at 1999 UEFA Cup Final. In 1999, he moved to Italy, but failed to impress at both Inter Milan and AC Milan. He also played with Espanyol in Spain. He played in 3 of the 5 top leagues in the UEFA. Between 1995 and 2006, he played 51 times for Ivory Coast.  He played for them at the 2006 World Cup Finals, where he was their oldest player.

Cyril Domoraud 

CB: Eric Bailly 

Eric Bailly began his professional career at Spain's Espanyol in 2014, before transferring to Villarreal. He spent two seasons at the club before signing for Manchester United in 2016.  He was apart of the team that won the Europa Cup while being named in the Team of the Tournament.  He was also CAF Team of the Year: 2016, 2017 and 2018.  He received his first cap in 2015 and soon after he was a member of Ivory Coast's AFCON winning team in 2015.

LB/LW: Arthur Boka
Nicknamed "Africa's Roberto Carlos", Arthur Boka  was a part of the Côte d'Ivoire squads at two FIFA World Cups and five Africa Cups of Nations between 2006 and 2013.   For his club career, he played for K.S.K. Beveren, RC Strasbourg, VfB Stuttgart, Malaga and FC Sion.  He spent 8 seasons with VfB Stuttgart between 2006 and 2014.

LB: Siaka Tiéné
Tiéné started his career with ASEC Abidjan before joining Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa. He played in France for Saint-Étienne and Stade de Reims, but better known for his career with Valenciennes FC, PSG and Montpellier.  Earned over 95 caps for the Ivory Coast, representing the team at the 2010 World Cup and at 7Africa Cup of Nations in 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015, captaining them to victory in 2015.

DM: Cheick Tioté
He made his professional debut in 2005 with Belgium's Anderlecht. In 2008, after a loan at Roda JC, he joined FC Twente, winning the Eredivisie in his second season. After that, he signed for Newcastle United in England. Tioté totalled 156 games for Newcastle over six-and-a-half seasons, scoring one goal. In February 2017, he joined Beijing Enterprises of the China League One, where he died in June in a training session, at the age of 30. Capped 55 times.  He won the African Nations' Cup in 2015.

CM: Yaya Toure 

Yaya Toure is probably one of the best African player of his generation.  He went to three World Cup Finals at the 2006, 2010. He also represented them in six Africa Cup of Nations, captaining them to victory in 2015. Touré had stints with Beveren, Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos, and AS Monaco before moving to Barcelona in 2007. In 2010, Touré moved to Premier League club Manchester City where he helped City earn their first league title in 44 years. He is among the greatest Manchester City players.

Yaya Toure

CM: Pascal Miézan 

Pascal Miézan spent most of his career playing for Abidjan side Africa Sports between 1975 and 1985. He also had a spell with Lierse in Belgium.  Between 1977 and 1989,  he played 32 times for Ivory Coast.  He participated at the 1984 African Cup of Nations finals. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.  He could both attack and defend well.  

DM: Didier Zokora

Zokora started his European career with Genk and Saint-Étienne. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2006 following his performances at the 2006 World Cup. He also played for Sevilla and Trabzonspor.  Zokora has played 118 matches for the Ivory Coast and is their most capped player of all time.  He went to the WC Finals in 2006 and 2010. He also went to Brazil in 2014 despite he has just retired from football.

AM/LM/CM: Serge Maguy
Maguy started his career at ASEI, but also played for Africa Sports, one of the most important clubs in his native country. In 1993, he joined Atlético Madrid, but he only had 8 matches before returning to his country. He played with the ASEC Mimosas and the Satellite, being one of the most important players in the local league. In 1999, he returned to Europe with Chenois and Paris FC. He had 58 caps, helping Ivory Coast to win 1992 African Nations' Cup in 1992.

Serge Maguy

LW/FW: Salomon Kalou

At the time of writing, he plays for Hertha Berlin. He previously played for Feyenoord and Chelsea.  With Chelsea, he won the Premier League, the Champions League, 4 FA Cups and the League Cup. He moved to Lille in 2012, where he spent two seasons before moving to Hertha Berlin. From 2007 to 2017, Kalou amassed 83 caps and represented his country at 3 World Cups, 6 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the 2008 Olympics.

FW/LW/RW: Gervinho

Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumodi F.C., before moving to Belgium in 2004 to play for the now-defunct Beveren. Between 2007 and 2011, he played in the French Ligue 1, initially at Le Mans and then at Lille. He was sold to Arsenal in 2011, and moved to Roma in 2013. In January 2016, Gervinho moved to Hebei China Fortune F.C. He has made 80 appearances for the Ivorian national team, scoring 22 goals. He played in 2010 and 2014 World Cup Finals.

FW: Abdoulaye Traoré

Abdoulaye Traoré was a star with ASEC Mimosas where he played in the 1990's.  He had a brief spell with Braga in Belgium as well as smaller clubs in France.  For the national team, he was capped 90 times.  He was the second highest scorer in the history of the Ivorian national team.  He was a part of their African Nations' Cup winning team.  He was selected as one of the "Immortals" of Ivorian football in 2022.

Abdoulaye Traoré 

FW/AM: Ernest Kallet Bialy 

Nicknamed "Cruyff of Ivory Coast", he is the captain and charismatic leader of Africa Sports, one of the leading clubs in Ivory Coast. He played with the Ivory Coast team in the African Cup of Nations in 1968 and 1970, obtaining the third place of the competition in 1968, and the fourth in 1970.  He was known for his rivalry and friendship with Laurent Pokou.

ST: Laurent Pokou 
Laurent Pokou was considered one of the greatest from Ivory Coast.  He was twice the highest goalscorer of the Africa Cup of Nations, scoring six goals in 1968 and eight in the 1970. With 14 total goals, he is also the tournament's second highest overall goalscorer in history, behind Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, who eclipsed Pokou's record in the 2008 ACN tournament.  At home, he played for ASEC Mimosas. In Europe, he played Stade Rennis and AS Nancy.

Laurent Pokou 

LW/ST: Youssouf Fofana 
Youssouf Fofana was nicknamed "Dribbler" and "Black Diamond". He played for clubs like ASEC Mimosas, AS Cannes, AS Monaco FC, Girondins de Bordeaux, Karşıyaka S.K. and Al-Nassr as well as the Côte d'Ivoire national football team. With AS Monaco, he was the 1992 UEFA Cup winners cup runners up.  In 1992, he helped his country to win African Cup of Nations, which was Ivory Coast's first ever title.

ST: Didier Drogba 

Didier Drogba was voted African Footballer of the Year twice: 2006 and 2009.  He is probably Ivory Coast's greatest ever player and probably among the greatest ever striker from Africa. The best part of his career was spent with Chelsea in England.  He won the Champions' League for 20011-12. He also finished the top scorer in the Premiership twice.  He also played in France, MLS and China. For his country, he led Ivory Coast to the World Cup Finals in 2006, 2010 and 2014. He was also their all-time leading scorer.

Didier Drogba

Honorable Mention
Losseni Konaté, Jean-Jacques Tizié, Zagoli Gbolie, Ibrahima Fanny, Guy Demel, Sékana Diab, Rufin Lue, Mangué Cissé, Basile Kouamé, Blaise Kouassi, Sol Bamba, Sam Abouo, Leopold Sacre Abialy, Jean-Baptiste Akassou Akran, Denis Gnégnéry, Abdoulaye Méïté, Basile Aka Kouamé, François Zahoui, Arsène Hobou, Donald-Olivier Sie, Gadji Celi St Joseph, Tchiressoua Guel, Didier Otokore, Bonaventure Kalou, Seydou Doumbia, Aruna Dindane, Kanga Akalé, Arouna Koné, Bakari Koné, Kader Keita,Yoboué Konan, Wilfried Bony, Nicholas Pepe, Eustache Manglé, Ibrahima Bakayoko, Joël Tiéhi.

Squad Explanation

-- This team was created December, 20017.  Five years later, I decided to redo their team in December, 2022.  
-- Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure were automatic selection. Both won the African Player of the Year. Between 2006 and 2014, the two of them won the award together six times. Yaya Touré won the award four consecutive times from 2011 to 2014. Drogba won it twice. 
-- The 1992 African Nations Cup was their first major trophy.  From that team, I selected Alain Gouaméné, Serge Maguy, Abdoulaye Traoré and and Youssouf Fofana. They beat Cameroon in the semi-final by a penalty shootout and then, beat Ghana in the Final by another penalty shootout.

Youssouf Fofana 

-- Liked most African teams, the oldest players played in the 1960's.  Ivory Coast finished in the top 4 in the three straight African Cup of nations: 1965, 1968 and 1970.   My all-time team included three players from that era. They were Ernest Kallet Bialy, Henry Konan and Laurent Pokou.  Joseph Bléziri was on the original team I created in 2017.
-- Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure led a Golden Generation of players.  Gervinho, Salomon Kalou, Didier Zokora, Cheick Tioté, Siaka Tiéné, Arthur Boka, Serge Aurier, Emmanuel Eboue, Boubacar Barry and Kolo Toure also made my all-time team.  Including Drogba and Yaya, I have 12 players from this generation.   

-- In 2016, L'Équipe selected their Ivory Coast's all-time Best XI.  The players selected were Alain Gouaméné, Emmanuel Eboué, Kolo Touré, Cyril Domoraud, Siaka Tiéné, Didier Zokora, Yaya Touré,  Salomon Kalou, Youssouf Fofana, Laurent Pokou and Didier Drogba. 

-- Infosport (a subsidiary of the Canal+ Group) also came up with a list of the 20 greatest Ivorian footballers, but I was very skeptical about their ranking.

-- The Confederation of African Football (CAF) compiled a list of 200 greatest African footballers of the last 50 years in 2006.  Ten footballers from Ivory Coast made the team.  They were Laurent Pokou, Joseph Bléziri, Ernest Kallet Bially, Eustache Mangle, Pascal Miézan, Didier Drogba, Youssouf Fofana, Alain Gouaméné, Serge Maguy, Joel Tehi and Abdoulaye Traoré. 

-- IFFHS selected the following players as their All-Time Best XI for Ivory Coast.  They were Alain Gouaméné, Emmanuel Eboué, Kolo Touré, Eric Bailly, Arthur Boka, Didier Zokora, Yaya Touré, Bonaventure Kalou, Salomon Kalou, Didier Drogba and Gervinho.  Their list was geared toward the more recent players.  Born in 1966, Alain Gouaméné was their eldest player.  Even Laurent Pokou was missing from their team. 

-- The Foot D'Or is an annual event to honor the best of Ivory Coast's football.  During the inaugural year in 2021, they came up with their greatest ever team.  Each players was designated with the title  "Immortals" of Ivory Coast's football.  The eleven footballers selected were Alain Gouaméné, Serge Aurier, Sacré Abiali Léopold , Kolo Touré, Jean-Baptiste Akassou Akran, Yaya Touré , Emmanuel Moh, Abdoulaye Traoré , Didier Drogba, Laurent Pokou  and Youssouf Fofana.  As compared to IFFHS's team, this was a much older.  Six of their players came before their Golden Generation between 2006 and 2016.  I did not come up with Sacré Abiali Léopold and Jean-Baptiste Akassou Akran during my research in 2017.  

Goalkeepers

-- In the Final of the 2015 African Cup of Nations, Boubacar Barry saved two penalties and scored the winning one in the shootout against Ghana.  He also spent over 16 years playing club football in Europe.  Alain Gouaméné played in more AFCON finals games than any goalkeeper in Ivory Coast's history.  He was best remembered for the penalty shootout at the 1992 African Cup of Nations where he saved the last kick by Ghana.  Both goalkeepers were almost undisputed.

-- The third goalkeeper was more tricky.  Jean Keita was a forgotten player even in Ivory Coast.  In the 1960's, he was a star of ASEC Mimosas, where he won a record of 6 national cup titles and 3 league titles.  Losseni Konaté lived in the shadow of Alain Gouaméné, but he was highly rated.  He had 87 caps.  Jean-Jacques Tizié was their first choice goalkeeper at the 2006 World Cup Finals, but he only played 26 times for Ivory Coast.  From 1980's, Ivory Coast had Zagoli Gbolie who took them to a third place finish in the AFCON 1984.  I also came across Ibrahima Fanny.

-- In 2017, I took Jean Keita, but because of the lack of information on him gave me second thoughts.  He was born in 1943.  He played for ASEC Mimosas of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s.  He was the club's greatest ever keeper.  He played for them from 1961 to 1972, during which he won six national cups (1962,1967,1968,1969, 1970, and 1972) and three titles of champion of Côte d’Ivoire (1963, 1970 and 1972).  Meanwhile, Jean-Jacques Tizié played in some important matches. So I took him as the third keeper during the 2022 review.  Losseni Konaté also came very close.

Defenders

-- Kolo Toure is Yaya Toure's brother.  He also had a great career in England.  Emmanuel Eboue played with him at Arsenal.  They were probably the most famous Ivorian players after Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba.

-- The first central defender spot went to Kolo Toure. Then, Heny Konan was described one of the first star players ever from Ivory Coast.  He scored in the semi-finals on both 1965 and 1968 African Cup of Nations.  Then, I selected Eric Bailly.  In 2017, Eric Bailly was still too young for consideration.  By 2022, he had been playing for a good club team in Europe for a while many Ivorian defenders in question were journeymen.  He was selected into the IFFHS CAF Men's Team of the Decade 2011–2020 while he made it to the CAF Team of the Year three times.

Eric Bailly

-- The last central defender was hard to decide.  In 2017, Cyril Domoraud and Abdoulaye Méïté were on the team.  In 2022, I discovered Jean-Baptiste Akassou Akran who was selected as one of the "Immortals" by Foot D'or (see above).  He played for Asec d'Abidjan in which he won several titles in Ivory Coast.  His nickname was  “Lé général” because of his leadership on the field. I should trust local opinion rather sources from Europe,  but apart from a single article, I had no information on him.  So it was better to put him on honorable mentions.  Blaise Kouassi's name appeared a lot in a discussion of Ivorian football on a Facebook page. He was an aggressive defender whom Ronaldinho considered to be his toughest defender he had ever faced.  He also seemed to be a fan favorite.  I came across Denis Gnégnéry from 1970 African Cup of Nations as well as Sékana Diab, Rufin Lue, Sam Abouo and Sol Bamba. Mangué Cissé whose son Djibril played 41 times for France was also rated highly by another web article.

-- Ultimately, I stayed with Cyril Domoraud because L 'Equipe also chose him as one of their starting central defenders and Infosport (a subsidiary of the Canal+ Group) put him as the 13th greatest Ivorian footballer (second best defender)  The French should knew more about Ivory Coast football than anyone else.  He was their star defender before the emerge of Kolo Toure.  He was for several years the captain of the Elephants. 

-- So I dropped Abdoulaye Méïté.  Born in France, he was capped 46 times for Ivory Coast.  He went to the World Cup Finals in 2006. He played across Europe for various clubs.  His longest career was with Olympique de Marseille, where he played between 2000 and 2006.  He also played in England for Bolton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion.  

-- On the right, Emmanuel Eboue and Serge Aurier were undisputed.  Both were famous player during the their prime. I put Guy Demel and Aka Kouame on honorable mention.  Demel played for Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, HSV Hamburger and West Ham.  Basile Aka Kouamé spent his entire career playing for local club ASEC Mimosas, which was very rare among African players. He played a key role in the Elephants’ triumph at the African Cup of  Nations.  He was one of the best African rightback in the 1990's.  

-- Most All-Time Best 11 team listed either Siaka Tiéné and Arthur Boka as Ivory Coast's starting leftback.  Siaka Tiéné was only a year older than Boka.  However, Leopold Sacre Abialy was named as one of the "Immortals" for that position. I found zero information on him.  He was on Ivory Coast's team that finished third at the 1986 AFCON.   that was basically everything I knew of him.   Arsène Hobou of the 1992 team was also honored here.   Eboue, Boka and Tiéné were a year difference in age while Aurier was about 10 years younger than the trio.

Midfielders/Wingers

-- Yaya Toure won the African Player of the Year four times.  He was at one point considered one of the best midfielders in the world.  Didier Zokora is currently their most capped player.  He also has a good career with Tottenham Hotspurs.  Both were undisputed.  Then, I took Cheick Tioté because he spent over 9 seasons playing top flight football in both Eredivisie and the Premiership.  Not many footballers from here could claim a similar career in Europe.

Cheick Tioté

-- In 2017, I did not have Pascal Miézan.  He was a top Ivorian player in the 1970's and 1980's.   He was selected as one of the 200 Greatest African footballers by CAF in 2006.  Inforsport also ranked him as the 8th greatest Ivorian player.  I also needed an extra central midfielder.  He played as a number 8.  He was a two-way central midfielder who could both defend and attack.  It was reported that he also played as a libero.

-- Foot D'Or awarded Emmanuel Moh as one of the Immortals (All-Time best XI) of Ivorian football, but I did not see his name mentioned much elsewhere.  Gadji Celi St Joseph was the captain of the 1992 AFCON winning team. He later became a successful singer. However, he was a lower division player in France at the time when plenty of Africans were playing at a higher level in France.  I found his name  being brought up in a discussion group, but he was not mentioned much. I studied hard on Tchiressoua Guel.  He played over 70 times for the Elephants.  His career was sandwiched between the 1992 African Cup of Nations and the years that Ivory Coast qualified for the World Cup Finals. So he did not have the glory of the other generations. He deserved a spot, but only made honorable mention.

-- I should keep an eye on Franck Kessie too. 

-- The selection of Salomon Kalou was based upon his career in Europe.  He was primarily a left winger, but had played many times as a right winger. He won the Johan Cruyff Trophy while playing for Feyenoord.  He was very famous due to playing with Jose Mourinho's Chelsea..  He also played with Didier Drogba over there.  I did have a spot for his older brother Bonaventure Kalou. He was on the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2004–05

-- For attack midfielders/playmakers, I chose Serge Maguy.  He was one of the 200 greatest African footballers of the last 50 years selected by CAF in 2006.  He was a hero of Ivory Coast's triumph in the 1992 African Cup of Nations.  Infos Sport put him as the 4th greatest Ivorian footballer behind Didier Drogba, Laurent Pokou and Yaya Toure.  

-- Ernest Kallet Bialy was a rival of Laurent Pokou in club football.  The ASEC vs Africa Sport derbies in their era were epic. They also played together for the national team.  He was described as an inside-right and playmaker.  I do not really know how to rank old-timers when African football was not a power in football.  Several sources rated him very high among Ivorian footballers,  He was largely comparable with Pokou during their prime.

Ernest Kallet Bialy

-- François Zahoui was the first African player to play in Serie A. Claudio Gentile was a Libeya-born Italian player so he was not considered an African.  He spent a short time with Ascoli in the early 1980's.  He later had a better career in France.  However, he only played 4 times for the national team. I believed he was an attack midfielder.  I named him on the Honorable Mention for being a pioneer.

Forwards

-- Laurent Pokou was considered one of the greatest players from Ivory Coast before the emerge of the recent Golden Generation. Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure simply had better exposure around the world than Pokou who spent some time playing in France.  He was second highest all-time scorer in the history of Africa Cup of Nations and was only surpassed by Samuel Eto’o in 2008. He finished in the top three twice in the African Player of the Year awards in the early 1970's.

-- In 2017, I selected Joseph Bléziri.  During the review of 2022, I found other players as desirable as him.  So I studied Gervinho, Eustache Manglé, Ibrahima Bakayoko, Abdoulaye Traoré and Joël Tiéhi.

-- Joseph Bléziri. was on the list of 200 greatest African footballers of the last 50 years by the CAS, but he was not named in any of my major source.  He was legend playing in Ivory Coast's domestic league. He scored the winning goal for Stade d'Abidjan to win the 1966 African Cup of Champions Clubs.  From 1966, he played in France for Sporting Club Bastia, AS Aixoise and US Toulouse. He played with the Ivory Coast team in the African Cup of Nations in 1968 and 1970, obtaining the third place of the competition in 1968, and the fourth in 1970.  He was one the country's pioneer players playing in Europe.  However, in 2022, I questioned his inclusion.

-- Ibrahima Bakayoko was highly rated in the French league, but he failed to impress with Everton. Joël Tiéhi was ranked 8th greatest player from this country by Inforsport, but his career was not as impressive as others. Eustache Manglé played with Laurent Poko at the club level. He was the first Ivorian to score a goal at the African Cup of Nations.  But I decided to go with Abdoulaye Traoré and Gervinho

-- Abdoulaye Traoré's club career in Europe was not as strong as some of the players not selected for this team.  Nevertheless, he was one of the Foot D'Or's "Immortals".  He was selected as one of the 200 greatest African footballers by CAF.  He was a part of the team that won the 1992 AFCON.  Moreover, he is the second highest goal scorer for Ivory Coast and the 8th most capped player.  Gervinho was on IFFHS's All-Time Best XI , but he was not mentioned much elsewhere.  The modern fans preferred him because of his association with Arsenal and AS Roma. Certainly, he was an important player for Ivory Coast during their Golden Generation.  He was mainly a left winger/forward.

Gervinho

-- Wilfried Bony was the Dutch Player of the Year in the 2012-2013 season, but I have Didier Drogba, Laurent Poko and Youssouf Fofana over him.  He only scored 16 goals for Ivory Coast, but two of them were at the 2014 World Cup Finals.  Drogba was no longer playing for the national team by 2015, where he was named on the Team of Tournament at the AFCON 2015.

-- I do not know much about Ignace Wognin, Jean Tokpa and Yoboué Konan.  Jean Tokpa was the first wave of African footballers to arrive in France in the 1950's.  Ignace Wognin was more successful.  He had over 100 league goals.  Yoboué Konan played in France during the 1960's.

Formation