PHOTOS: Cote D’ivoire celebrate 2023 AFCON trophy
Thousands of jubilant Ivorians wearing orange and white have flooded the streets of Abidjan to celebrate the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations trophy they won on Sunday.
Cote D’Ivoire authorities declared Monday a public holiday to celebrate Les Elephants triumph.
The hosts defeated Nigeria 2-1 to win the 2023 AFCON for a third time, prompting huge celebrations across the country.
Coted D’ivoire were unlikely winners. They lost two group games and fired their manager mid-tournament. Emerse Fae, a youth-team manager, took over for his first job leading a senior team.
As fate would have it, four games later, he was lifting a trophy.
The parade commenced at Hôtel Palmier and the crowd built slowly from around midday, becoming tremendous as the parade’s scheduled start time approached.
As numbers grew, so did the noise, with horns blaring and chants breaking out, accompanied by dancing.
At around 15:00 GMT, the first players suddenly appeared on the flatbed truck that would take them on their journey through Abidjan to the over 30,0000 capacity Félix Houphouët Boigny stadium for a trophy presentation.
The banners on the truck announced the Elephants as ‘Champions of Africa 2023’ and featured three stars, to indicate the fact that the team has now won this competition on three occasions.
