Cote D’Or preparing for Africa and beyond
The Intelvision Cup finalists are reinforcing for the 2015 season as they get ready for their Orange Confederation Cup preliminary match
African bound Cote D’Or are currently in full preparation for their participation in the Orange Confederation Cup preliminary round match against an Ethiopian side. Cote D’Or will play their first match at home and there is a real possibility
that the Intelvision Cup finalist will dispute the match on their home ground at Amitie on February 14, the same day that Barclays League champions St Michel host the South African champions, the Mamelodi Sundowns, at our national stadium at the Unity Stadium.
It can be argued that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) should have changed this fixture so that it did not clash with each other. Despite being a small member State, the country has a top figure in this organization, namely Suketu Patel who is
the Vice-president of the CAF.
As for Cote D’Or, their president, Robert Payet, told TODAY Sports that he team have been preparing well for this two legged match. “Our preparation has been going well as we did not stop training at the close of the season. We have conducted training twice a week. We are now focusing on building our endurance and have also started training twice daily with an early morning session,” the club president said.
The Cote D’Or club president also revealed that the former national team coach, Jan Mak, is expected to arrive soon to assist with preparing the team, alongside head coach Ahmed Abdou and Nicolas Simouri. Mak worked with the team for a short period late last season whilst holidaying here and had an agreement with the Praslin team to return at the start of the season for a longer period.
At the close of the season, Cote D’Or pulled off a camp when they snapped away St Michel’s prized asset defender Jimmy Radafison. Cote D’Or have also signed the promising Lightstars defender Mervin Jeannevol, as well as 27 year-old Malagasy striker Fabrice Ravelomanantsoa from Malagasy club Vesta. Chairman Payet told TODAY Sports that they may bring in other players before the close of the transfer window.
However Cote D’Or have released strikers Paul Bruyelle and Branly Zizi as they were not performing to the expected level, though they have returned Jean Tigana and Patrick Rasaminana. Cote D’Or relinquished their Barclays League title last season to St Michel. Tthey finished a distant third in the league and didn’t manage to win any titles despite reaching the Intelvision Cup final. Surely theywill be hoping for a better 2015 season and what better place to start than in African competition.
Source: Today.sc 1-24-15