Sport Matters

French influence . . . Ivory Coast's French coach Herve Renard walks by as his 2015 Afcon-winning players celebrate their victory in Equatorial Guinea last month. Renard, who also won the 2012 Afcon with Zambia, was born in Aix-les-Bains in Rhone-Alpes region of western France, near Switzerland and Italy.   France is inadvertently a major player in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations currently on in Equatorial Guinea. Dozens of players representing various teams have players born in the former colonial power, or players who either were raised in France or live there because of their contracts with French clubs in all levels.  There are African players from the elite Ligue 1 down to independent soccer academies in all corners of France. On the opening day of the tournament Spanish-born Emilio Nsue scored for Equatorial Guinea but Congo’s Thievy Bifouma opened the flood gates for French-born players when he equalised later in the match. The stylish striker was born Thievy Guiv