Winger Nicolas Pépé admitted after Côte d’Ivoire’s win over Curaçao that the victory was a reward for the team’s hard work and collective effort, www.aclsports.com reports.
The former Arsenal man delivered a man-of-the-match performance in Les Elephants’ 2-0 win over Curaçao on Thursday, as he scored a brace to seal his team’s historic qualification for the knockout stage.
Pepe also became the only second player from his country to score twice in a FIFA World Cup match, following in the footsteps of Aruna Dindane, who bagged a brace in a 3-2 win over Serbia and Montenegro in 2006. To top it all off, the Villarreal star also scored his country’s fastest-ever goal in the tournament with just seven minutes ticked off the clock.
“Of course!” he replied on whether he has always believed in himself without hesitation in an exclusive interview with FIFA. “I know I’ve got what it takes. This is the reward for all my hard work, and I hope it will continue in the upcoming matches too.”
“My brace was down to the team as well,” continued the 31-year-old, on a more selfless note. For the first goal, I just had to tap the ball in after some brilliant work from Yan [Diomande]; for the second, Ibra [Sangare] played a superb ball, and all I had to do was stay focused and score. I’d like to dedicate this trophy to the lads,” the winger added.
“It was one of the best nights of my career,” concluded the Villarreal man, who has been in fine form since the start of the year, with six goals and nine assists in 16 La Liga starts.
Côte d’Ivoire coach Emerse Fae spoke glowingly about the winger, calling him a top-class player.
“Nico knows it, and so do we: he’s a top-class player,” said Fae. ”He’s one of the players who need to help us win matches in these competitions. He has the ability and the experience to do so. Today, he scored two brilliant goals. It’s good for the team, and it’s good for him too,” Fae added.
Pepe and the rest of the Côte d’Ivoire squad will go away to “get ready to try and beat” their next opponents. That will be either France or Norway, depending on which team finishes second in Group I.
