Salomon Kalou has attributed Ivory Coast’s defeat to Nigeria at the 2013 African Cup of Nations tournament to ego problems within the squad.
The Super Eagles triumphed over the Elephants when both sides met during the quarterfinal stage on their way to winning a third continental crown.
Nigeria finished second in Group C behind Burkina Faso, while Ivory Coast topped Group D to set up the fascinating last eight clash in South Africa.
Emmanuel Emenike opened the scoring in the 43rd minute for the Super Eagles, before the late Cheick Tiote equalized for Ivory Coast.
Sunday Mba, who scored the winning goal in the final, netted the winner later in the game as Nigeria sealed a sensational win over the Elephants who had reached the final in 2012.
Kalou opens up on Ivory Coast defeat to Nigeria
Speaking during an interview session, former Ivory Coast forward Kalou who started that encounter before coming off in the 67th minute, blamed his side’s defeat to the player’s ego at the tournament.
“I think that sometimes because we have so many talented players playing for great clubs, sometimes nobody wants to accept to be left out”, Kalou said.
“If you’re left out you probably don’t want the team to win. So you will not give your all. This also affects us a lot in a lot of tournaments, in the World Cup and Afcon.
“It was not the team we were playing against, it was us ourselves. How to manage ourselves, guys let’s play, I don’t care if I play five minutes. It was not acceptable for people to be on the bench. This is what was the issue with that moment with our team.
“The difference is, you guys have the same ego, Nigerians we know that but that team of yours, everybody knows their position. So you won’t complain if you’re on the bench,” the former Chelsea forward concluded.
