Ivory Coast coach Herve Renard has revealed that the strong bond between him and the Ayew family inspired him to console Andre Ayew during his irrepressible weeping when the Elephants defeated the Black Stars in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations last month.
Ayew shed uncontrollable tears after the Black Stars lost to Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations final in Equatorial Guinea because it was too much to bear.
The Ivory Coast Coach Herve Renard, who is a former assistant coach of Ghana, spent several minutes after match consoling Ayew after the Black Stars lost to the Ivorians on penalties in the final.
Renard says he feared Ghanaians would reject the player while the relationship between his family and that of Ayew spurred him to engage the Marseille star to calm him down.
"I was afraid of being rejected by the Ghanaians. So when he was alone, I went", the former coach of Sochaux wrote in his France Football column.
"It made ??me sad to see him like that. I great affection for Jordan and Andre. I lived a year in Ghana, their little sister was educated with my daughter, we do not live far from each other.
"I just wanted to comfort him, even if it did not make much use. I think he did not hear me I said Even Yaya and Kolo Toure, among the greats, lost two finals and ended up finally winning. I told him that I was sure that one day he would win with Ghana."
Ayew said he had to shed uncontrollable tears after the Black Stars lost to Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations final because it was too much to bear.
That was the Marseille player’s second Afcon final loss with the first being Angola 2010 against Egypt.
The four-time African champions succumbed in a 9-8 penalty shootout against the Elephants on Sunday in Equatorial Guinea, a game that was a total repetition of Senegal 1992.
“The feeling of losing a second Afcon final got me very emotional and I couldn’t control it,” Ayew told the press in Accra. “It was really difficult for me to take.”
According to him, the Black Stars were the best team of the final and should have annexed the trophy.
“I thought we just deserved the trophy. We played well and put in a lot of effort,” he said.
Ayew, who was voted the top scorer of the tournament, scored three goals and provided two assists.