Cote d’Ivoire head coach, Emerse Fae has said he still find it hard to believe that the Elephants are champions of Africa.

Recall the hosts came from almost being knocked out of the tournament to winning the title.

In an epic clash with the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Fae’s side came from a goal down to seal an emphatic 2-1 win at the Alassanne Quattara Stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan on Sunday night

“I still find it hard to believe it. We went through all the emotions. This competition will mark my life, that’s for sure,” Fae told reporters after the game.

” I took the reins of the team, on my birthday and we were almost knocked out, yet things turned around thanks to the hard work of these players and today they have been rewarded and more importantly, they rewarded our loyal people.”

Fae was named the Best Coach of the Tournament.

– Emerse Fae leads side back from the brink –

It is an incredible achievement for a side that was on the brink of elimination in the group stage after losing 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea on January 22.

That was their heaviest ever home defeat and the Ivorians then parted company with coach Jean-Louis Gasset, replacing him with Emerse Fae, a teammate of Drogba’s in 2006.

They then began a remarkable turnaround which saw them oust holders Senegal on penalties, beat Mali with a last-gasp goal in extra time, and edge out DR Congo with a Haller goal in the last four.

Their supporters packed out the stadium to its 60,000 capacity, with many fans having to watch the game from vantage points on stairways.

Anyone wanting to dampen the excitement levels might have pointed out that Cup of Nations finals tend to be low-scoring affairs.

There were just 10 goals scored in the last 11 finals, five of which were decided on penalties after a 0-0 stalemate.

Indeed, Ivory Coast’s four previous final appearances had all ended goalless before going to penalties, two of which they had won.

This looked set to be another nervy, low-scoring affair with chances few and far between early on.

However the home side then had a great chance on 34 minutes when Kessie found Adingra on the left and his shot was turned away by Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali.

That proved crucial as Nigeria went ahead just four minutes later when Ademola Lookman’s corner from the left was touched on and Troost-Ekong headed in from the edge of the six-yard area.

Earlier in the tournament the Ivorians would have crumbled in such a scenario, but they deserve great credit for regrouping at the interval and throwing everything at Nigeria.

Max-Alain Gradel’s netbound shot was blocked in front of the line by Calvin Bassey five minutes after the restart, before Nwabali turned an Odilon Kossounou long-range piledriver around the post on 62 minutes.

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