Les Elephants look to forget Toronto loss and charge toward Curacao clash

If Cote d'Ivoire wins its next match, Saturday's loss to the Germans won't matter.

After surrendering two second-half goals and missing the chance to clinch a knockout stage berth for the first time in its four World Cup appearances, Les Elephants turn their attention to their last group stage match against Curacao on Thursday.

Win, and the Elephants are in.

Forward Amad Diallo said he and his teammates will get over the Germany loss. They have to.

"We (have) respect for ourselves, but we want to make history for Cote d'Ivoire, and we (are) going to go there with a good mentality and try to rise again," he said.

Cote d'Ivoire seemed one step ahead of Germany throughout the first half on Saturday — and a chunk of the second — with midfielder Franck Kessie's first-half goal silencing German fans for a long stretch.

But the German side of the sold-out crowd erupted when Deniz Undav scored the winning goal, his second of the match, leaving Cote d'Ivoire fans hanging their heads.

The team seemed a little shocked as well, and players spoke about the pain of losing a match they felt they should have won.

Cote d'Ivoire coach Emerse Fae felt his team could have been more decisive in its bid to get a second goal.

"It's more frustration that we're feeling after this defeat, because we were able to open the score against this strong German side," he told reporters.

"A difference in experience meant that the chances that we did have at the end of the game, where we needed to find the back of the net, we were hesitant," Fae said.

However, the Ivorian coach was quick to put the Germany game behind him and highlighted that, overall, he was happy with his team's performance.

"We're going to use this game as a lesson to try and fine-tune the mistakes, our shortcomings that we still have, and that will help us go as far as possible," he said.

He said he was looking forward to the challenge of facing Curacao next to see "what they are made of", and was expecting a strong fight.

"Our destiny is still in our hands, or at our feet," he said.

The good news for FIFA's No 31-ranked Les Elephants is that their next opponent, Curacao, is way below them at No 83.

The Caribbean nation also lost its first match to Germany, 7-1.

"It's going to be a big moment for everyone, for this new generation, because we know we have quality in the team," Diallo said. "But the priority now is that we are really focused on ourselves. It's going to be a very hard game."

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA