When a French coach named Jean-Marc Guillou set up the MimoSifcom academy as part of the Asec Mimosa set up, his only intention was to get a steady stream of talented youngsters from Ivory Coast to European teams. To make a name for themselves and a few bucks for Guillou. His actions, however motivated, would eventually turn out to save a country on the brink of collapse from itself.

With civil war threatening to tear Cote D’Ivoire apart, it was the national team filled with the kids from Mimosifcom, with the mercurial Didier Drogba as their leader, who made perhaps the biggest impact on peace talks when they qualified for the World Cup and addressed the warring factions on the need for a ceasefire.