Cote d'Ivoire head coach Emerse Faé urged his players to maintain their focus as they begin the defence of their Africa Cup of Nations title on Wednesday night against Mozambique.
The Ivorians outwitted Nigeria 2-1 in the final of the 2023 Cup of Nations to brandish the trophy for a third time.
Nearly two years on from that triumph just outside Abidjan, Faé and his charges take on a side from a country that has never won a match in five previous visits to Africa's most prestigious national team football competition.
"We've all prepared well, technically, physically and mentally," said the 41-year-old former Ivoiran international.
"We know what the competition is like. We know it's not going to be easy. We're ready to rise to the challenge."
His warning will carry weight after the squad's run to the 2023 title.
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Humiliated 4-0 by Equatorial Guinea in the final pool match to finish outside the two automatic qualifying places, Ivoiran football federation chiefs dispatched coach Jean-Louis Gasset and appointed Faé, one of his assistants.
The new coaching team had to wait another two days as the other groups played out to see whether Cote d'Ivoire had qualified for the knockout stages as one of the four best third-placed teams.
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They scraped into that batch as the fourth team.
Faé's new model army exploited the reprieve. They profited from an unadventurous Senegal team to score a late equaliser and then claim a penalty shoot-out.
In the quarters, Mali failed to kill off a team reduced to 10 men for the whole of the second-half and extra-time.
It was not until the semis and the return to the team of the injured duo Simon Adingra and Sebastian Haller that the Ivorians showed some semblance of cohesion and structure to see off the Democratic Republic of Congo in the semis and Nigeria in the showdown.
Haller, then prowling the front line for Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga but now at Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivise, withdrew from the squad after straining a thigh muscle.
Adringra, who was ajudged best young player of the 2023 tournament, was left out.
'Struggle for form'
"Simon is struggling to earn a starting spot at Sunderland and we will have to do without his qualities," said Faé when announcing his 26-man squad.
On the eve of the game in Marrakesh, Faé said he was pleased with the squad's preparation as well as the attitude of the players.
"We''re ready. Not just for the first match but for the whole of the tournament. The players have been working really hard and are invested in making a success of the competition. They want to win back-to-back titles."
Mozambique, at 102 in the Fifa world rankings, will go into the game as underdogs.
But veteran striker Domingues said in the prelude to the clash that the status should be relished.
"I tell teammates who ask me that there might not be many chances to play in the Cup of Nations so they need to try to enjoy the experience," said the 42-year-old.
"And if we can get a positive result, it's going to to be amazing for us because it's going to give us more hope.
"So I always tell them that they must enjoy but enjoy with responsibility. And that's what we're going to do."
On a personal note he added: "Yes, my legs; they're still going. They're still going. There's still is some energy. So I'm going to try to put that energy to help the team."
In Group F's other clash on Wednesday, Cameroon take on Gabon in Agadir.
