ASEC Mimosas (short for Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas; ) is an Ivorian professional
football club
In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...
based in
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...
. The club is also known as ''ASEC Abidjan'', especially in international club competitions. Founded in 1948, they are the most successful side in Ivorian football, having won the
Ivorian Premier Division 29 times and the
1998 CAF Champions League. In addition, ASEC's youth academy, known as Académie MimoSifcom, has produced a number of famous players predominantly based in top foreign leagues, including
Bonaventure Kalou,
Didier Zokora,
Emmanuel Eboué,
Bakari Koné,
Gervinho,
Salomon Kalou,
Romaric,
Boubacar Barry
Boubacar "Copa" Barry (born 30 December 1979) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Having begun his career at ASEC Mimosas, he moved to France in 2001, where he played for Rennes' reserve team. In 2003, he ...
,
Didier Ya Konan,
Kolo Touré,
Yaya Touré and
Odilon Kossounou, all of whom have played internationally.
History
ASEC Mimosas was founded on 29 April 1948 by a group of businessmen from Western Africa, Lebanon and France. The club originates from a place called ''Sol-béni'' (French for Holy Ground) in
Abidjan-M'pouto, which today is the name of their training complex. In the following years, ASEC competed in the Championship of Abidjan together with their eternal rival
Africa Sports, with their first professional coach being Frenchman
Guy Fabre in 1954. Fabre also shaped the club's philosophy of ''que les enfants s'amusent... en jouant au football'' (may the children have fun... by playing football).
After Independence in 1960, ASEC won its first title in the newly found
Premier Division in 1963. In the early 1970s, ASEC rose to power by winning the league title 5 out of 6 possible times from 1970 to 1975. This was the era of players as
Laurent Pokou and
Eustache Manglé. In the next years, it was
Africa Sports who dominated the league, with ASEC winning only once in 1980.
On 19 November 1989, advocate
Roger Ouégnin was elected as club president. In his wish to professionalize the club, he introduced
Philippe Troussier as coach from 1989 until 1992. This was the time for ASEC to return to old strength, winning the championship six consecutive times between 1990 and 1995. ASEC also provided the backbone of the national team that won the
1992 African Cup of Nations, including key members of the side such as
Ben Badi,
Donald-Olivier Sié and
Basile Aka Kouamé. After having qualified for the semi-finals already five times before, ASEC finally won the CAF Champions League in 1998. For some players, this was the chance to sign for a European club, for example team captain
Tchiressoua Guel, who joined
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...
afterwards. A few years later, ASEC beat their own record by winning the league seven consecutive times between 2000 and 2006.
In 1993, former French national player
Jean-Marc Guillou joined the club staff as director, manager and financier. Together with chairman
Roger Ouégnin, he founded the
Académie MimoSifcom at ''Sol Béni''. In the following weeks, they started to scout amongst thousands of young kids to form the first promotions to receive coaching and education. In 1999, following ASECs success in the 1998 Champions League, ASEC faced
Espérance Sportive de Tunis in the
CAF Super Cup
The CAF Super Cup, known as TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was f ...
. But most of the old players were aged, had left the club or at least wanted to. So Guillou and Ouégnin decided to replace the old squad with the first products of the academy, most of them only aged around 17/18 years. The owners protested against this measure and Espérance's president
Slim Chiboub called it a "scandal to be playing against children". However, the young ASEC squad surprisingly beat their opponents by 3 to 1 goals and brought in the second big international title for their club. Amongst others,
Boubacar 'Copa' Barry,
Kolo Touré,
Didier Zokora,
Gilles Yapi Yapo,
Siaka Tiéné,
Abdoulaye Djire,
Venance Zézé
Venance Zézé, nicknamed Zézéto, (born 17 June 1981 in Abidjan), is an Ivorian footballer who currently plays for Séwé Sport.
International
He has been capped by the Ivorian national side.
Career
Like many successful Ivorian footballers ...
, and
Aruna Dindane were part of that squad.
When Guillou became manager of Belgian side
K.S.K. Beveren in 2001, many of the academy's players joined him. As a result, the Belgian team consisted mainly out of Ivorian players for several years. These could use Beveren as a chance to show their talent to top European clubs. Players as
Yaya Touré,
Arthur Boka,
Emmanuel Eboué,
Gervinho,
Romaric and
Copa all had their time in Beveren. This lasted until 2006, when Guillou and Beveren broke up with ASEC Mimosas.
ASEC then linked up with
Charlton Athletic.
Satellite clubs
The following clubs are affiliated with ASEC:
*
Charlton Athletic
*
West African Football Academy
Académie MimoSifcom
ASECs youth academy has been described as the crown jewel of African football. The academy started by
Roger Ouégnin and
Jean-Marc Guillou in 1993 at ASEC's training complex has since produced many international stars. The student-athletes are given an education, for which they take classes in math, history, geography, physics, French, English, and Spanish. The students live in dorms during the week and have two training sessions a day. They play matches on Saturday and get health care and tutoring.
Current squad
Technical staff
Club life
The club's colours are yellow and black; the badge displays a Mimosa. Together with their biggest rival
Africa Sports National, they contest the most important ivorian football derby. These two are also the only clubs allowed to play their home games in
Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
ASEC has, after own declarations, more than 8,000,000 fans in
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
and 15,000,000 in the whole region. The fans are called the ''Actionnaires''. They are organised in the ''CNACO'' (''Comité National d`Action et de Coordination'', = National Committee for Action and Coordination), which has 40,000 members and consists out of 350 commissions.
Records
ASEC holds the world record for unbeaten league games, racking up 108 league and domestic cup games without loss between 1989 and 1994 before they were eventually beaten by
SO Armee; four more than the unbeaten run of
Steaua București in the late 1980s.
Honours
Domestic
*
Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division: 29
**1963, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023
*
Côte d'Ivoire Cup: 22
**1957, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1983, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2023
*
Félix Houphouët-Boigny Cup: 17
**1975, 1980, 1983, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2023
International
*
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...
: 1
**1998
*
CAF Super Cup
The CAF Super Cup, known as TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was f ...
: 1
**1999
*
West African Club Championship (UFOA Cup): 1
**1990
*
Peace Cup: 1
**2001
[The report about ASEC Abidjan win in 2001 tournament that was held in ]Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
is here: https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/shalom-roma.html
Performance in CAF competitions
*
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...
: 15 appearances
::
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
– Winners
::
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
– Group stage/Semi-finals
::
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
– Group stage (Top 8)
::
2002 – Semi-finals
::
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
– Group stage (Top 8)
::
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
– semi finals
::
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
– Group stage (Top 8)
::
2006 – Semi-finals
::
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
– Group stage (Top 8)
::
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
– Group stage (Top 8)
::
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
– Second round
::
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
– First round
::
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
– Second round
::
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
– First round
::
2018-2019 – Group stage (Top 16)
*
African Cup of Champions Clubs: 12 appearances
::
1964 – Preliminary round
::
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
– Semi-finals
::
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
– Second round
::
1974 – Quarter-finals
::
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
– Quarter-finals
::
1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
– Semi-finals
::
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
– Quarter-finals
::
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
– Quarter-finals
::
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
– Semi-finals
::
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
– Semi-finals
::
1995 – ''Finalist''
::
1996 – Second round
*
CAF Confederation Cup
The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...
: 9 appearances
::
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
– Second round of 16
::
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
– Group stage (Top 8)
::
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
– Second round
::
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
– Second round
::
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
– Group stage (Top 8)
::
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
– Second round of 16
::
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
– Second round of 16
::
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
– Group stage (Top 16)
::
2021-2022 – Group stage (Top 16)
::
2022-2023 – Semi-finals
*
CAF Cup Winners' Cup: 4 appearances
::1983 – Semi-finals
::1984 – Quarter-finals
::1987 – Second round
::2000 – First round
Former managers
Former presidents
References
External links
*
The Mimosifcom academy way– ''These Football Times'' (2015)
{{CAF Super Cup winners
Association football clubs established in 1948
Football clubs in Ivory Coast
Football clubs in Abidjan
1948 establishments in Ivory Coast
Sports clubs and teams in Ivory Coast
CAF Champions League–winning clubs
CAF Super Cup winning clubs