Ten years after lifting the trophy, Ivory Coast are far from being in title-winning form.
For many of the players, the price of failure is etched firmly in the memory.
The team were detained at a military boot camp for being knocked out in the first round at Ghana and Nigeria 2000.
Morale has also been bruised after a weak finish in World Cup qualifying which saw Tunisia beat them to the finals.
Ivory Coast still have plenty of good players, not least Marseille's mercurial striker Ibrahim Bakayoko and Feyenoord's Bonaventure Kalou.
And after experimenting with a series of French coaches, The Elephants have now gone for one of their own.
Few, though, would bet on Bamba being able to find a winning formula with a side that has suffered such disillusions.
