Sports

ASEC Mimosas Still In Bloom On Solid Foundation

Published

14 years ago

February 14, 2011

Imagine supporting a team made up entirely of young local players who have known each other all their lives, who have grown up, trained and progressed together, made their professional debuts together and won trophies together.

A utopia to many, that dream is one that has been fulfilled by the fans of ASEC Mimosas, the Côte d’Ivoire club whose history has been made all the more glorious by their ability to nurture and get the best out of their home-reared talents.

ASEC stands for “Amicale Sportive des Employés de Commerce” (Sporting Association of Business Employees). As that name suggests, it was founded by a group of workers employed by companies in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan, all of them football fanatics.

Hailing from France, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana, Togo, Senegal and Lebanon, they pooled their passion for the game and founded a club, which came into being on 1 January 1948 in an Abidjan suburb by the name of Sol Beni (French for “blessed sun”). Adopting the mimosa flower as the club’s symbol, one that still features on its badge, they also chose yellow and black as the colours of the new outfit.

Stepping out in the Abidjan League, they would quickly strike up a rivalry with Africa Sports, the team that would become their eternal foes. Coached initially by co-founder Trenou Alfred Seho and then by George Koffi, it was under the Frenchman Guy Fabre, ASEC Mimosas’ first professional coach, that the club began to lay solid foundations. Appointed in 1954, Fabre preached a simple maxim that would later become the club motto: “Children have fun when they play football”.

Fabre’s charges proved him right when they went out and won the Abidjan championship in his first year at the helm. It was the first of many trophies that would come ASEC’s way. In 1955 he led his team to the final of the French West African Cup, where they lost out to Senegal’s US Goree. The Abidjan side appeared in the final again in 1956 and 1958, and though they came away empty-handed on both occasions, the experience was to stand them in good stead.

Four years after the second of those defeats they secured their maiden national trophy, the Côte d’Ivoire Cup, which was followed 12 months later by their first league title triumph.

Les Jaune et Noir (yellow and Balck) enjoyed a purple patch at the end of the decade, winning the cup four times in a row between 1967 and 1970, the last of those successes coinciding with a second league crown. Though coaches came and went, ASEC maintained their reputation as a flowing, inventive team, one spearheaded at the time by the striker, Laurent Pokou.

Four straight championship wins followed between 1972 and 1975, with the Abidjan side adding further cups in the first two of those seasons. Having satisfied their fans’ every wish on the domestic front, they then set their sights on conquering Africa.

Their initial forays in the African Cup of Champions Clubs met with little success. However, they did reach the semi-finals in 1971 and again in 1976, losing to Canon Yaounde of Cameroon and Hafia FC of Guinea respectively, a 5-0 second-leg defeat in the latter tie bringing an ignominious end to a golden era.

The return of Fabre in 1979 yielded a seventh domestic crown a year later, the end of a five-season drought. Nevertheless, it would be another decade before they reigned at home again.

The gloom was only lifted with the arrival of Roger Ouegnin as president, the catalyst for their emergence as the premier force in Ivorian football. The son of one of ASEC’s founding fathers, who had himself occupied the president’s seat in the late 1950s, Ouegnin brought the fading Mimosas back to life, pulling off his first masterstroke by appointing Frenchman Philippe Troussier as head coach. A championship hat-trick followed and even when Troussier left to be replaced for successive one-season spells by Eustache Mangle, Charles Albert Roessli and Mamadou Zare, the trophies kept coming.

ASEC’s supremacy was underlined by the fact that they went unbeaten in 108 games from December 1989 to June 1994. Club heroes Alain Gouamene, Abdoulaye Traore (also known as Ben Badi), Donald Sie and Basile Aka Kouame were so influential at the time that they also formed the backbone of the Côte d’Ivoire side that won the country’s one and only CAF African Cup of Nations title in 1992.

The highlight of that golden period would be reached in 1998, when after four semi-final failures and a 1995 final defeat to South Africa’s Orlando Pirates, ASEC finally tasted glory in the CAF Champions League (formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs), beating Dynamos of Zimbabwe in the final.

Perhaps Ouegnin’s greatest achievement, however, was to co-found the fabled Academie MimoSifcom in 1994 with former France international Jean-Marc Guillou. Unique in Africa, the academy has churned out a succession of talented players over the years.

Open to children from all social and ethnic backgrounds, it lays on free trials and provides its students with a training cycle that can run for as long as seven years, as well as a school education. The centre soon began to pay dividends, with its first graduates picking up the baton from the 1998 Champions League-winning side.

They showed their worth as early as February 1999, when an ASEC side featuring not one player over the age of 18 took on the mighty Esperance of Tunisia in the CAF Super Cup. Displaying a telepathic understanding, the untried teenagers swept to an emphatic 3-1 win, although with a teamsheet featuring the likes of Kolo Toure, Aruna Dindane, Boubacar Barry and Didier Zokora, a result like that should have come as no surprise.

ASEC have continued to reap the rewards of Ouegnin’s bold presidency and his lasting investment in the club’s future. Such has been Les Mimos’ domination in recent times that they have won an incredible 16 of the last 20 league titles. The man entrusted with the task of keeping the reigning Ivorian champions at the top of the pile is another Frenchman, Sebastien Desabre, who took over in October 2010.

ASEC’s Stadium

Built in 1964 to host the Abidjan Games, the Stade Geo Andre has since changed its name to the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny, in honour of Côte d’Ivoire’s first president, the father of the nation. Ask any local fans where ASEC play, however, and they will answer, “Le Felicia”, the nickname by which the ground is more commonly known.

With a capacity of 65,000, the stadium is also the venue for the national team’s home games, and staged matches at the 1984 African Cup of Nations. It was last refurbished in 2009, in preparation for the African Nations Championship.

Culled from FIFA.Com.

Sports

CAF Postpones CHAN To August

Published

2 weeks ago

January 15, 2025

The Tide

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the postponement of the TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN), originally scheduled for February 1, in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, to August 2025.
The decision followed recommendations from CAF’s technical and infrastructure experts, who reported that more time is needed to bring the facilities in the host nations up to the required standards for a successful tournament.
CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe, in a statement on yesterday, January 14, 2025, expressed appreciation to the presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda for their support.
He emphasised that the postponement is intended to ensure adequate planning and infrastructure readiness for the competition.
“I would like to express my deep gratitude to President William Ruto of Kenya, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda for their leadership, commitment and the good progress that has been made in building and upgrading the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure and facilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for hosting a successful TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024.
“I am impressed with the ongoing construction and renovations of the football infrastructure and facilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. I am confident that the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals and other infrastructure and facilities will be at the requisite CAF standards for hosting, in August 2025, a very successful TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (“CHAN”) Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda 2024″, he said.
However, the exact date for the completion was not disclosed but the CHAN 2024 Draw is scheduled for Wednesday 15 January, 2025 at the iconic Kenyatta International Conventional Centre, Nairobi.

Sports

Chelle Sure To Qualify For 2026 W’Cup

Published

2 weeks ago

January 15, 2025

The Tide

New Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle has expressed his desire to lead Nigeria to the ‘pinnacle of world football’ starting with the ticket to the 2026 World Cup as he takes the reign of the three-time African champions.
Chelle was unveiled on Monday at a brief ceremony at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja by the Nigeria Football Federation, one week after his announcement as the 37th coach of the Super Eagles.
He was handed a two-year deal with an option to extend if he gets the 2026 FIFA World Cup ticket.
Since his appointment last week, the NFF has constantly hammered the coach’s task of leading Nigeria to the tournament which will be played in the USA, Canada and Mexico despite the precarious situation of the Eagles in the qualifying series.
After four rounds of matches in the series, Nigeria are fifth in Group C with just three points having only drawn three and lost one.
To avert the danger of missing out on a consecutive FIFA World Cup, the Eagles must win all their six remaining matches in the group or even hope for favourable results in other ties – a task Chelle fronted at his unveiling.
Asked if he would take responsibility at the end of the qualifying campaign, the ex-Mali coach said, “If you want to be a great coach, you need to take some risks, you need to make some sacrifices.
“I want to be in the history. The first thing, I need to talk to the players. I will be a big brother. It is my prayer that we are going to the World Cup.
“I want to thank my agent, the NFF, the NSC and indeed all Nigerians for this big opportunity. Coaching the Super Eagles of Nigeria is an amazing job; I do not take this appointment for granted. I am elated and will do my utmost best.”
For most of the reactions that have trailed his appointment, the rallying point was his enterprising and attacking style with the Mali national team at the AFCON, which he emphasised he would be bringing to Nigeria.
“Football is about scoring goals, so I favour an attacking style. I know the expectations of Nigerians and I will settle down and work diligently with assistants towards the goal of qualifying the Super Eagles for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”
The 47-year-old also relished his long-time dream of getting the Super Eagles job, having been a fan of the Nigerian national team in his boyhood.
“Nigeria’s team is more than a team. When I was young, this was my favourite team. I owned a shirt; I watched all the games at the World Cup in France. I was in Marseille and it was my team.
“From this very moment, I am already hard at work. My goal is clear: to restore the Super Eagles to the pinnacle of world football, where they truly belong. This will require hard work, discipline, and a strategy that is both ambitious and realistic. I will rely on the exceptional talent of our players, whether they play at home or abroad, and build a team that reflects the unity, strength, and excellence of Nigeria,” the coach added in a social media post.
Chelle, who took Mali’s Aiglons within breathing distance of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals, left his job at top Algerian side MC Oran – 1989 African Champions’ Cup finalists – to team up with the Super Eagles.

Sports

Gokana Chairmanship Cup Symbol Of Unity Peace – Chairman

Published

2 weeks ago

January 15, 2025

The Tide

Gokana Local Government Council, Chairman Hon. Monday Dumiye has said that 2024 Gokana Chairmanship Cup symbolises unity, peace and love for Gokana people.
Hon. Dumiye said this during the grand finale of the 2024 Gokana Chairmanship cup titled “Unity Cup” as the fourth edition of the Chairmanship Cup ended last Saturday at Kpor, the council headquarters.
He expressed gratitude to the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara for his tremendous support, most especially the peace Rivers people are enjoying including Gokana LGA.
He also applauded members of the local organising committee of the tournament and all those that contributed towards the success of the championship.
He hinted the huge crowd witnessed during the tournament shows peace has come to stay in Gokana,saying that it has been his intention to ensure that there is peace ,unity and togetherness among the people.
” Without peace we all know that there will be no meaningful development. I want to say that it is the first of its kind in the annals of the people to use the instrumentality of sports to develop talented Gokana youths.
“The mamoth crowd you are seeing here today shows our people have embraced peace. This is exactly what we intend to achieve uniting our people through sports.
On his part, former Super Eagles player and current coach of Rivers United, Finidi George, commended the Gokana Chairman for organising such a wonderful tournament for the youth.
He advised the chairman to form a formidable team from the tournament, admitting the unprecedented crowd that witnessed the championship shows that the chairman is on the right direction.
The Leader of the Simplified in Gokana, Hon. Friday Beema thanked the Chairman for his zeal to develop Gokana.
He also commended the Rivers Governor forgiving them well focused Chairman who reason like him.
The leader called on the people of the area to support Governor Fubara for the development of Gokana.