Elephants' exit shocks the whole country

[Folami David]

It was another sad day in Ivory Coast after the national team lost to Nigeria 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.
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The streets were empty and silent, bars and beers parlours shut down as early as 8:30pm, as planned post-match nationwide celebrations were brutally aborted by the Super Eagles.
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A day later, the shock hasn't dissipated. Men and women, young and old, purposely refused to discuss what happened far away in South Africa the previous day. It was akin to a nationwide disaster, reminiscent of the Elephants' loss to Zambia in the final of last year's edition.
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The game ended in the early evening, a time when Ivorians usually troop out to catch fun in the noisy streets of the commercial capital Abidjan, mostly during the weekend. However, it turned into an awful Sunday, when people stayed back at home and forced themeselves to bed.
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An Ivorian said '' Look, Didier Drogba failed to inspire or drive the team. His performance from day one showed us that he was never prepared and that he had almost resigned to the fact that he would never win an AFCON title in his career ''.