Ivory Coast striker Gervais Kouassi, commonly known as “Gervinho” says his country football authorities needs to put a lot of effort so as to put more belief in the team in order to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The former Lille and AS Roma marksman who was snubbed by the interim coach Kamara Ibrahim in the two past friendlies against Togo and Moldova in March was speaking on Thursday in an interview from his base in China where for the first time, commented about Elephants failure to make it to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“It was a great pain and a big disappointment. We were keen to compete in this World Cup but things went wrong. It’s football. We must now build the future. ”

“It’s not just the players to make the effort. Our leaders must also put a lot of effort, be more organized and more professional, “Gervinho said.

The forward who currently turns for Hebei China Fortune also spoke about the return of Yaya Toure to the national team saying that he was happy to see the Manchester City midfielder back to the national team.

“The return of Yaya Toure is a good thing. I was glad to know that he decided to come back to the national team . He is a great player that we need. He will do a lot of good for the team,”Gervinho added.

Toure, 34, retired from international football after captaining his country to African Nations Cup glory in 2015 but declared his availability again last December.

However, the 102 capped midfielder did not report to the camp for both friendlies citing personal reasons which was later confirmed by the Ivorian Football Federation officials.