Cote d’Ivoire legend staged an international comeback in the Elephants’ 1-0 defeat to Japan in Tuesday’s international friendly.
The 33-year-old played for 81 minutes as Patrice Beaumelle’s team lost to the Samurai Blue inside Utrecht’s Galgenwaard Stadium.
Following the Elephants’ 2-0 home defeat to Morocco in a 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier on November 11, 2017, the Parma star drew the curtain on his international career – a consequence of the West Africans’ failure to qualify for Russia.
However, he was recalled to the team by coach Beaumelle after a three-year hiatus alongside Serey Die and Manchester United’s Eric Bailly for October friendlies.