Luqman Mumuni
February 5, 2024 at 2:03 am
- Simon Adingra is one of the revelations in the AFCON 2023
- The Brighton star was an impact player for the home side
- Ivory Coast reached the semi-finals after beating Mali
Ivory Coast have gone from the brink of elimination to favorites to win the Africa Cup of Nations in a matter of days.
Their journey to the semi-final bears the hallmarks of hard work, dedication and determination.
Having lost 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea in their final group game, the AFCON hosts had to rely on the results of other matches to determine their faith in the competition.
Source: Twitter
Fortunately, Morocco did them a favor after beating Zambia in their final group game as Ivory Coast sneaked into the knockout stages as one of the best teams in third place.
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In their run to the semi-final, it is Brighton’s 21-year-old winger Simon Andingra who has shone for the Elephants.
His introduction in the Round of 16 against Senegal proved crucial as Ivory Coast forced the game into extra time and eventually won on penalties.
Again, stand-in coach Emerse Fae trusted the youngster, making him his secret weapon on the bench. Andingra changed the game when he came on in the second half of the quarter-final match against Mali.
With the Ivorians a man down and a goal down, Andingra forced the game into extra time with a poacher’s goal in the 90th minute. Oumar Diakite stole the winner at the death with a move from Seko Fofana’s strike, per Euro Sport.
Andingra, before becoming a Premier League player and pearl of the Ivory Coast, had to pass a test at the age of 12 before realizing his dream.
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The story of Simon Adingra
The Yamoussoukro-born forward always had dreams of becoming a footballer at a very tender age. Andingra combined school and football while growing up, but everything changed when a man came to his father with the promise of sending his son to an Academy in Benin. Andingra’s family had to raise β¬300 to pay the man as part of the deal for his son to pursue his football career.
“I was playing on the street in Ivory Coast. A scammer took 300 euros from me to take me to a training center in Benin. There I washed dishes in restaurants in exchange for some money and meals,” he was quoted as saying. by First Mag LeVrai.
βOne day, a coach came to see my parents saying he knew a good academy in Benin that needed young talents like me. My father, who has since passed away, always wanted me to be a footballer and he agreed for me to go. We had to pay a sum of about 300 euros to this guy and I left for Benin with nine other young Ivorians.
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“Only this guy was a fraud. He made it all up and ran off with our money. There was no academy or accommodation for us there. All ten of us were in Benin, aged 12, left to fend for ourselves with no one. Help. No we didn’t even have money to feed ourselves… There were then two possibilities: either go back to Ivory Coast or wait and see if the opportunity came.We decided to all stay together and do odd jobs to start earning money, like washing dishes in restaurants in exchange for some money and meals’.
Saved by Grace
While planning to return home, Adingra and his friends met their guardian angel. Things went from bad to good as the man spotted the talents of the young Ivorians. An academy was started with them.
“One day, we were walking down the street and a guy studying in Ivory Coast recognized our Ivorian accent. He was surprised to find about ten young Ivorians in Benin. We explained the situation to him and he was shocked by the conditions we lived in,” he continued.
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“He did everything to find us another home and had the idea to create a small football academy with the nine youngsters and me. Over time, other players joined the center and it became a real academy in Benin. One day he saw on the Internet that there was a tournament in Accra, Ghana, and we went to play there. I’m still in touch with him; he actually came to see me play at Union-Zulte Waregem at the beginning of February.”
From Benin to the Right to Dream
Andingra began polishing his talent at the Benin Academy. Little did he know it was the beginning of greatness for him as the team was invited to a youth tournament in Ghana.
“During the tournament in Ghana, the recruiters from the Right To Dream Academy were impressed by my performance and offered me a two-week trial at their well-known training center. Everything there was very professional with great organization and skilled coaches. even if it wasn’t easy for me at first, because I didn’t speak English. In the morning, we had a moment of prayer together before we went to “school. In the afternoon we had training. I stayed there for two years and played with Kamaldeen Sulemana, who currently playing at Southampton, and Mohamed Kudus from Ajax (at West Ham Currently),β concluded the Brighton star.
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Dorgeles refuses to celebrate the goal
Earlier, Sports short reported that Mali winger Nene Dorgeles refused to celebrate after scoring a screamer in the quarter-final match against Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Dorgeles announced his presence moments after replacing Adama Traore by firing from outside the box with 19 minutes remaining.
However, the host nation forced the game into extra time after Brighton winger Simon Andingra equalized in the final minute before Oumar Diakite stole the winner with the last kick of the game.