Yan Diomande gave a candid assessment of Herve Renard’s team selection after Ivory Coast were beaten 1-0 by Cameroon in a friendly on Saturday, saying the coach had tried something that “didn’t work”.
The result was Ivory Coast’s first defeat since Renard returned as coach, with Bil Nsongo scoring his first international goal shortly after half-time to settle the 21st meeting between the two sides.
Although the match was officially a friendly, the fixture between the two “extended families” rarely lacks intensity. Cameroon’s victory silenced the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, as Nsongo struck in the 46th minute.
Renard used the absence of competitive points to make extensive changes to his starting XI. He made 10 alterations from the side that had beaten Somalia 2-0, giving several players the opportunity to stake their claim.
Diomande came on at half-time and immediately posed a threat, but did not look for excuses when he spoke to NCI after the match.
“It is true that it was a friendly, but an Ivory Coast-Cameroon match is always special,” said the winger. “We wanted to win, but the coach wanted to try something. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.”
The directness of the young Ivory Coast international’s comments may have appeared awkward, as they openly referred to Renard’s decision to overhaul the team. Diomande has shown on several occasions that he is still developing his communication skills.
However, his assessment was consistent with the conclusion reached by Renard himself shortly afterwards.
The two-time Africa Cup of Nations-winning coach handed first international appearances to Christ Tape, Kassoum Ouattara and Amadou Kone. Franck Kessie, Diomande and Evan Ndicka were among those left on the bench.
Renard accepted responsibility for the loss and made no attempt to distance himself from the decision to rotate his squad.
“I accept responsibility for this defeat. I wanted to rotate the team,” the Ivory Coast coach said.
He explained that the changes were intended to give him a clearer view of his options ahead of future matches.
“I wanted to see all the new players in action in this match,” Renard added. “Tonight, I have learned a great deal from the performance of each of them. That is why I took this risk.”
The defeat is therefore unlikely to make Renard reconsider his approach. The friendly was designed partly as an opportunity to assess new players and test different combinations.
Collectively, the experiment may not have produced the desired result, but Diomande’s comments and Renard’s own explanation suggest the coaching staff still gained the information they were seeking from the match.
