For four long weeks he was absent from the Green-White ranks but now, finally, he’s back!! Boubacar Sanogo has returned from his Africa Cup of Nations duty with the Ivory Coast, which didn’t quite go according to plan for one of the tournaments favourites. After a devastating 1:4 semi-final loss against eventual champions Egypt, ‘The Elephants’, despite a Sanogo brace, crashed to a 2:4 defeat against Ghana in the third place play-off.
"I am sad because we were eliminated from the competition at the semi-final stage", explained the 24 year old striker on his arrival and Sanogo went on to explain that his mind was on Werder all the time that he was away: "I followed all of the Werder games and when I saw what happened in the first two matches, that really wasn’t nice for me. I’m just happy to be back now."
The striker intends to help push Bremen forward right away now and during his time in Africa, the extreme professional attitude of the player saw him work with a personal fitness coach. Sanogo will return to full team training on Tuesday in order to prove his full physical condition. The front man has set himself the goal of playing a part in Wednesday’s UEFA Cup tie: "I am highly motivated for the game against Braga. If the trainer says it’s okay, then I will be ready", explained the Ivory Coast international.