Yan Diomande admitted Cote d’Ivoire wanted to beat Cameroon but said coach Herve Renard’s decision to try different options contributed to their 1-0 defeat in Saturday’s friendly at Ebimpe.
Cameroon’s Bil Nsongo scored the only goal shortly after half-time, handing Renard his first defeat since returning as Cote d’Ivoire manager.
Renard made wholesale changes to his starting line-up for the match, making 10 changes as he used the fixture to assess his squad.
Diomande came on during the game and spoke candidly to NCI after the result.
“It is true that it was a friendly, but a Cote d’Ivoire-Cameroon match is always special,” he said. “We wanted to win, but the coach wanted to try something. Unfortunately, it did not work.”
The defeat was frustrating for supporters, particularly given the significance of the rivalry between the two countries. However, the extensive changes were intended to provide a full assessment of the squad and test alternative combinations.
The result should nevertheless give the technical staff clearer information about their secondary options ahead of the next rounds of qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.