So far, there is no other African club that has produced and exported some of the greatest names of African football than Asec Mimosas. Without a doubt, the backbone of the Ivory Coast national team, which is arguably the best current national team in Africa, is full of players who passed through the Asec Mimosas academy. Some of the greatest names such as: Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, Gervinho, Salomon Kalou, Didier Zokora and Bonaventure Kalou among many others has been produced by Asec Mimosas. Based in Abidjan Ivory Coast, Asec Mimosas was formed in 1948 almost by foreigners who were from France, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Lebanon and Ghana. The earliest idea behind the formation of this club, which is also famous for its bright black and yellow jersey, was to let children play and have fun. To the wish of its early founders, Asec Mimosas has let children of the dirty streets of Abidjan play, have fun and dream of changing their lives and those of their relatives. Despite being based in a war-torn country, Asec Mimosas has been one pride of a country that is madly in love with football.
True to its philosophy of letting children have fun by playing
football, Asec Mimosas won its first national title in 1960. This taste of
success later turned into reality in the early 70s when the club won 5 national
titles out of a possible six. This unheard-of success was followed by its demise
from the football map, but this was duly rectified in the early 90s when the
club recaptured its former glory. This coincided by success to the national
team, which won the African nations cup in 1992 with the backbone of the team
coming from Asec Mimosas. Later in 1998, Asec Mimosas tasted success in the
continental level by winning the CAF champions league for the first time
in the club's history. This triumph on the continental stage, opened ways for
the club to start exporting some of the most respected game players in the
continent. This was followed by many years of success, especially at the turn
of the millennium when the club won the national title, a record seven times in
a row between 2000 and 2006.
Given its nature of producing the best raw talent from Africa,
Asec Mimosas has for long acted as a feeder team for various clubs in Europe.
This began when the club's former coach and former French national player
Jean-Marc Guillou left the club in 2001 to join K.S.K Beveren in Belgium. Many
of the most talented young players of Asec Mimosas joined him in this venture
and gave the club, as well as Beveren the chance of showcasing these amazing
talents in Europe. However, when Guillou parted ways with Beveren in 2006, Asec
Mimosas informally partnered with Charlton Athletic in England as its feeder
club.
As a football club, Asec Mimosas has been referred to as the
crown jewel of African football. This is at the backdrop of the fact that it is
the only club in Africa that has produced many African international players
plying their trade in some of the biggest clubs in Europe than any other.
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