Ivory Coast legend Laurent Pokou played in just 4 AFCONS and scored 14 goals. In his first-ever AFCON in 1968, Pokou scored 6 goals and ended the competition as the top-scorer. Pokou scored a brace against Algeria in his first game in the history of AFCON in Ivory Coast’s 3-0 over the North Africans.
Pokou opened the scoring in Ivory Coast’s third game of the group with a 2-1 win over Uganda.
Pokou scored a brace in the semi-finals for Ivory Coast when they were beaten by Ghana 4-3. He continued his fine form by snatching the winner in the 1-0 win in the Third-place match against Ethiopia.
Laurent N’Dri Pokou’s great moment arrived in the 1970 AFCON hosted by Sudan. Pokou began the tournament with a brace against Cameroon in an entertaining 3-2 victory in favour of Cameroon.
The whole world took notice of Laurent Pokou’s talent as the Asec Mimosas forward scored 5 goals in the Elephants’ 6-1 evisceration of Ethiopia in Khartoum at the Municipal Stadium which earned him the nickname “the man of Asmara”. Diomande Losseni opened the scoring for Ivory Coast in the 16th minute and Pokou doubled the Ivorian’s lead in the 21st minute. He continued the scoring in the second half with a haul of goals in the 60th, 71st, 80th and 87th minutes.
He finished as the topscorer of the 1970 tournament with a consolation goal for the Ivorians in their 3-1 defeat against Egypt in the Third-place match at the Municipal Stadium in Khartoum.
Until Didier Drogba emerged in the mid-2000s, Ivory Coast had arguably never had any footballer that was as iconic as Laurent Pokou at the AFCON.
The official match ball for the 2023 AFCON has been named ‘POKOU‘ as a way to pay tribute to the legendary Ivory Coast hitman.
