The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire and Life after Sven Goran Eriksson
Money had the last word when Cote d’Ivoire’s FA discussed contractual terms with former Manchester City and Mexico manager Sven Goran Eriksson. A statement from FA vice-president Sory Diabate clearly explained the matter on the official website of Ivory Coast’s federation. According to Reuters, the statement read:
“In fact, Eriksson won’t be the future manager of the Elephants. He was our top choice, but discussions broke down. The problem came through financial considerations, although good will was on both sides.”
As at now, the public is yet to know the identity of Sven Goran Eriksson’s successor, but Sory Diabate assured anxious Cote d’Ivoire supporters:
“Everything should be finalized before our scheduled departure for London on August 7.”
Either way, the Elephants’ new manager won’t have much time to settle and arrange ahead of Cote d’Ivoire’s international friendly match against Italy on Tuesday, August 10. The West African country’s run at the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a poor one as they exited from the group stages of the tournament just like Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria, and South Africa.
Cote d’Ivoire urgently need to turn things around and they hope that their friendly match against Italy will mark a good start to a new life after Sven Goran Eriksson. Italy have a remarkable record against African counterparts, so defeating the four-time World Cup champions will mean a lot for the Elephants.
I Azzurri of Italy and Life after Marcello Lippi’s Greatest Fiasco
Italy are focused on doing nothing else but rebuilding their fortress which fell like a gigantic stone during the Azzurri’s humiliating adventure at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The 2006 World Cup champions had always been doubted for being old in terms of age and for being unimpressive in terms of performance.
However, only few had realistically predicted that their 2010 World Cup campaign would end after only three games. Actually, Italy finished bottom of Group F behind debutants New Zealand only to put more salt on their open wounds which revealed the acid taste of Italy’s 2010 FIFA World Cup disaster.
Cesare Prandelli has now taken over as the coach of the Azzurri. The former Fiorentina manager is expected to restore pride in Italy and he looks set to go in a different way than Lippi’s based on football philosophy. Italian sports magazine, La Gazzetta dello Sport, claimed that Prandelli will give space for controversial players Antonio Cassano, Amauri, and Mario Balotelli to don the Azzurri jersey.
Meanwhile, Cesare Prandelli’s new-look Italy squad is expected to exclude the likes of strikers Antonio di Natale and Vincenzo Iaquinta. Still based on speculations, the Italian squad is set to include Giuseppe Rossi (who missed out on Marcello Lippi’s 2010 World Cup roster), Marco Borriello, and Thiago Motta.
Nervous Azzurri fans would have to wait until Friday to know the names of the players that are destined to help Cesare Prandelli to draw a line between the country’s disastrous adventure in South Africa and the start of a new era without the guidance of 2006 World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi.
