Ivory Coast gave everything but “lacked maturity” in being ousted from the World Cup on Tuesday in a last-gasp 2-1 defeat to Norway, coach Emerse Fae said.
An unmarked Erling Haaland scored with four minutes left of normal time as Ivory Coast’s tournament ended at the last-32 stage.
“It’s tough to lose in the final minutes, they gave everything, they fought from the first to the last minute,” said Fae.
Norway took the lead late in the first half after a wonderful goal by Antonio Nusa.
Substitute Amad Diallo levelled with a fine goal of his own in the second period only for Haaland to pop up unmarked at the death to break Ivorian hearts.
Norway now face Brazil in the last 16.
“Maybe we lacked a bit of maturity, especially after the equaliser,” said Fae, who took Ivory Coast to the first World Cup knockout match in their history.
“Maybe at the end we should have tried to hold on and take it to extra time.”
The Ivory Coast, one of the youngest teams in North America, pushed hard for a second leveller but Norway just about held out.
“When you’re not able to score, you need to know how to stay solid defensively and not give the slightest opportunity to players like that,” Fae said of goalscorer supreme Haaland.
He added: “I think we’ve grown a lot thanks to this competition, it’s the first World Cup for these players.”
Fae dismissed the notion that he should have started Manchester United winger Diallo.
“We knew he would give us a lot when he came in, and that’s what he did,” he said.
