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An Ivory Coast supporter in the stands for his country’s famous AFCON win against defending champions Senegal has gone viral for appearing to eschew the stadium’s rampant celebrations in favour of talking to a woman standing next to him.
The host nation’s fate in the competition looked calamitous less than a week ago, as they teetered on the edge of group-stage elimination and made the decision to sack their manager Jean-Louis Gasset before the knockout teams had been confirmed.
But as the tournament’s best losers, they progressed, and were drawn against title-holding Senegal in the Round of 16.
Led by former Reading and Nice player Emerse Fae in the interim, the Elephants trailed Senegal from the fourth minute and Habib Diallo’s opening strike, but clawed their way back into the tie four minutes before normal time thanks to Franck Kessie’s efforts from the penalty spot.
After playing through extra time saw the tie undecided, Senegal faltered at the last when their third penalty-taker Moussa Niakhate struck the post.
An interaction between a man and a woman among the Ivory Coast fans has gone viral
Rather than celebrating the Elephants’ famous victory, the man seemed intent on conversation with his seat-mate
But as celebrations erupted inside Stade Charles Konan Banny de Yamoussoukro with the confirmation of a spot in the quarter-finals, one man’s dogged determination to speak to his seat-mate instead was caught on camera, becoming meme-fodder in an instant.
Users on social media delighted in comparing the video clip to a number of other memes which show women listening to men perhaps under duress, as well as captioning the footage with their own commentary.
One user suggested the video showed ‘me in the smoking shelter of a nightclub explaining to some girl how much I love (Jurgen) Klopp’.
Another described it as: ‘Arsenal fans trying to convince us that (Bukayo) Saka is better than Cole Palmer (hand concealing a giggle emoji).’
Users on social media were quick to draw parallels between the fan’s apparent belligerence and similiar memes
Other commenters on X poked fun at the supporter’s determination to get his point across
Some commenters also imagined conversation for the man in question, with one wondering if he was telling the woman: ‘”I was the one who told Kessie to shoot in the middle”‘.
Another thought of: ‘”If it wasn’t for the knee injury I had when I was 16 that would have been me taking that winning pen”‘.
One commeter summed up the turn of events for the Ivory Coast fan, posting: ‘being the global face of pestering a woman is insane.’
Another said she looked ‘terrified (two crying emojis)’.
The tournament has two final Round of 16 matches to see out, with Mali and Burkina Faso’s meeting and Morocco’s match-up against South Africa both being played on Tuesday.
Some social media users imagined good-naturedly what the man might have been saying
One user summed up the meme’s virality succintly as the video circulated on Friday night
Ivory Coast’s home success will see them face either Burkina Faso or Mali in the quarter-finals
Ivory Coast must wait to see who comes off best in the former tie to decide their quarter-final opponent, whilst the winner of the latter will play Cape Verde after their 1-0 defeat of Mauritania on Monday afternoon.
The quarter-finals already decided will see Nigeria play Angola on Friday afternoon, and hours later, DR Congo – who knocked out Egypt to progress to the final eight – will meet Guinea.
