The Elephants shot-stopper expects a better showing from his current side in the next Afcon finals taking place in Cameroon
Ivory Coast goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo believes the current side will play even better at the next Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), slated to be held in Cameroon in 2021.
The Elephants were defeated by Algeria 4-3 on penalties after playing out to a 1-1 draw following 120 minutes of football.
Sofiane Feghouli sent the North Africans in front after 20 minutes, but a strong second-half response by the Ivorians resulted in Jonathan Kodjia levelling the game right after the hour, and it stood that way until the end of extra-time.
Djamel Belmadi’s troops eventually claimed the win on spot-kicks after Wilfried Bony and Serey Die failed to score from 12 yards for the West African side.
Gbohouo believes the Elephants responded to criticism well and imagines they will get better at the next Afcon.
“Don’t be discouraged, the next Afcon is coming, we’ll work for it,” Gbohouo told the media.
“I want to thank [Ivorians]. It wasn’t easy, as we were criticized because of our style of play. It’s a beautiful team, a young team, and we’ll come back stronger.”
Furthermore, the TP Mazembe goalkeeper congratulated Algeria on their progress to the semi-final at his side’s expense, after the two hours of football and the lottery of spot-kicks.
“We saw a good performance from Algeria, they played, so congratulations to them,” he said.
“We tried to do our best. This evening, we gave everything but were defeated on penalties.
“We did everything we could, but it’s the law of football.”
Two-time champions Ivory Coast last won the biennial showpiece in 2015.
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