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Cote d’Ivoire Team Profile – 2010 FIFA World Cup

Angela Asante, June 15 2010,
In Group G, there is some African flavor through the inclusion of West Africa’s Ivory Coast. LivesoccerTV.com takes you there at last!

Cote d'Ivoire's capital, Abidjan
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Cote d’Ivoire – the country, the football

Call it “Cote d’Ivoire” (in French), not “Ivory Coast” (in English); this is how the government of this francophone country wants it to be. This 322,462 km² territory situated in West Africa has Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, as well as Ghana as its neighbors.

La Cote d’Ivoire is populated by over 18 million people who try to think positively despite the country’s internal and political problems. After all, the fever of football brings something different for Ivoirians to unite and share the same emotions thanks to Cote d’Ivoire’s national football team, the Elephants. For the second consecutive time, they will be competing in the finals of the World Cup.

 

In 2006, the Elephants of La Cote d’Ivoire crashed out from the first round. This time, they’ll want to create a better impression as they’ll be playing on Africa’s soil. Can the Elephants prove their values on the international stage and therefore brush away their disappointment of heading out empty-handed from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations?

Cote d’Ivoire – the road to the 2010 FIFA World Cup

In the CAF zone, the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign was joined with the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. La Cote d’Ivoire had to start from the Second Round before entering the Third Round en route to South Africa 2010. Only the table leaders in Round 3 were given tickets to the finals of the World Cup.

Second Round

Cote d’Ivoire’s campaign started on June 1, 2008. They played Mozambique at the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Abidjan. Cissé’s 75th minute goal settled a 1-0 result for the hosts as the Elephants commenced on a good note.

A week later, they clashed against Madagascar away and only picked up a goalless draw which was followed by another draw away to Botswana. In that match, Akalé’s second half goal cancelled out Selolwane’s 25th minute opener to earn the visitors a point.

In their third qualifying game, Cote d’Ivoire took full advantage of their home factor to trounce Botswana 4-0. Sanogo and Didier Zokora scored a goal each before half the hour mark. Cissé then netted his second and third goals of the campaign to seal the Elephants’ deserved victory.

The qualification campaign took a pause and resumed three months later. La Cote d’Ivoire travelled to Mozambique in September with the aim of securing their first away victory in their last possible attempt. But then, they failed to do so.

Bakari Koné opened the score sheet on 48th minutes but Mozambique’s Miro equalized quickly four minutes later. There were no reported goals after those two and the game ended all square, 1-1. To round up Round 2, the Elephants defeated Madagascar 3-0 thanks to Sanogo’s double and Kalou’s 66th minute goal.

Third Round

In Round 3 of the qualification campaign, Cote d’Ivoire showed more of their potential as they picked up five victories in six games. The first of those was a 5-0 win against Malawi on match-day one. Romaric scored as early as inside the first minute before Drogba clinched a brace for the Elephants to head into the dressing rooms 3-0 up at half time.

Kalou and Bakari Koné also added their names to the score sheet just to emphasize Cote d’Ivoire’s dominance. This win was followed by a 2-1 victory away to Guinea and 3-2 triumph in Burkina Faso. There was another 5-0 win for the Elephants at home as they trashed Burkina Faso in the return leg.

On October 10th 2009, Malawi looked set to end Cote d’Ivoire’s winning streak and they indeed managed to do so. Drogba equalized Ngwira’s opening goal for Malawi but the Elephants never found the winning goal.

Still a point was good enough and the West Africans pursued this result with a 3-0 win at home to Guinea. This time, it was Gervinho who stole the spotlight with two goals for his side while Tiene got the last one. On this note, Cote d’Ivoire closed what could be seen as a wonderful campaign as they successfully booked their tickets into the finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup which will be staged in South Africa.

Cote d’Ivoire – 2010 FIFA World Cup group stages

Cote d’Ivoire will probably be facing the most difficult task of their lives as they’ve be thrown into Group G, the World Cup’s ‘Group of Death’. European side Portugal, five-time winners Brazil, and underdogs Korea DPR complete this interesting table.

Match-day One: Cote d’Ivoire vs Portugal

In their first fixture at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Elephants of La Cote d’Ivoire will be playing host to the 2006 World Cup semi-finalists Portugal. The match, which will be staged at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth on June 15, will kick off at 16:00 South African local time.

It could see both sides’ skippers, Didier Drogba (should he recover from his injury in time) and Cristiano Ronaldo affronting themselves in a hot duel; which player will have the last laugh?

Match-day Two: Brazil vs Cote d’Ivoire

This is a match that will put the whole of Africa on its feet as the Elephants will try and bring down the giants of South America. It will be played in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium on June 20 at 20:30 South African local time.

La Cote d’Ivoire cannot boast of a healthy World Cup history as they’d participating in that event for the second time only. But they’ll be aware of the thrilling impact that will be created should they succeed in defeating the Brazilians. Definitely, such an achievement will go down in history.

Match-day Three: Korea DPR vs Cote d’Ivoire

So for the second consecutive time, Cote d’Ivoire will be playing as the away team. That is when they’ll be clashing against Korea DPR on June 25. It will be interesting to understand the importance of this clash, in terms of chances to qualify into the last 16.

La Cote d’Ivoire will be poised to win this encounter but they will not attempt to underestimate the Koreans as they are yet to test them. Underdogs can be dangerous and the Elephants will not need to be repeated this twice, especially after they suffered disqualification in a shocking manner against Algeria in January’s 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

Cote d’Ivoire – 2010 FIFA World Cup squad

Goalkeepers:

Aristide Zogbo; Daniel Yeboah; Boubacar Barry

Defenders:

Benjamin Angoua; Steve Gohouri; Guy Demel; Kolo Toure; Siaka Tiene; Emmanuel Eboue; Arthur Boka; Sol Bamba

Midfielders:

Abdel Kader Keita; Jean-Jacques Gosso; Yaya Toure; Cheick Tiote; Romaric; Didier Zokora

Forwards:

Emmanuel Kone; Gervinho; Salomon Kalou; Didier Drogba; Seydou Doumbia; Aruna Dindane

Cote d’Ivoire – Expectations from the country and their top stars

The Elephants of La Cote d’Ivoire present an array of stars combined together, yet success hasn’t been achieved at the major international level for almost 20 years. Despite coming out as the favorites at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in January, La Cote d’Ivoire were shocked by a spirited Algerian side which disqualified them in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

For how long will the Elephants and the entire population of La Cote d’Ivoire have to wait before tasting glory again?

Now ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, disillusionment and hunger might be ruling over the Ivory Coast’s team spirit. After cruising through to the finals of the 2010 World Cup, a vast majority of football followers branded them as Africa’s most talented and dangerous side.

However, their quarter-final exit in the Nations Cup may give them many quesitions to resolve going into this summer’s competition in South Africa. Perhaps, fans of the Elephants will prefer not to put their team under pressure by expecting too much from them.

But in truth, many will think that it is fair to dream big as the squad is made of big star names and amazing talents. At least, what the people of La Cote d’Ivoire will want to see from the players are passion and skill – which could ultimately offer success.

Didier Drogba

The main man who will be under the spotlight and under pressure to shine is Captain Didier Drogba. The striker failed to make a serious impact during the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations so Ivoirians will be desperate to see him give his last breath for his country.

Drogba, who might be retiring after the World Cup, is regarded as an idol in Cote d’Ivoire. He has netted numerous goals for the Elephants but the most important of them all are yet to arrive. Scoring in South Africa and therefore helping his team to make a positive impression during the tournament is all that the fans will want to see from him.

Kader Keita and Gervinho

Both are outstanding in their own way. Kader Keita was a kind of super-sub during the Africa Cup of Nations. He came off the bench twice and made his mark well. Now even though the Ivory Coast lost in the quarter-finals against Algeria, Kader Keita can still be remembered for scoring an 89th minute missile goal which could have been the winner.

Keita is physically strong, aggressive on the ball, and quick as well. He is instrumental in the wings just like Gervinho. Gervinho has recently proven his talent and he will be encouraged to play his game during the World Cup. He can take on defenders in a blink of an eye, especially during counter-attacks. Don’t give too much space to Gervinho before he punishes you instantly.

Kolo and Yaya Toure

The Toure brothers are experienced and talented. They play in different leagues in Europe but they are still able to team up well on the pitch when they both put on the Elephants’ orange jersey. The question is: are they ready to contain the likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazil’s Kaka, Luis Fabiano, and Robinho?

Well, Yaya Toure has come on top of some of Brazil and Portugal’s superstars a lot of times; that has happened in club football when Barcelona triumphed over Manchester United, Sevilla, Real Madrid, or Atletico Madrid for example. Likewise, Kolo Toure can also boast of such achievements.

Now will it be the same with the national team? Will their efforts be enough to deal with some of the world’s biggest stars?

Cote d’Ivoire – FIFA World Cup record

There is not much to look onto in Cote d’Ivoire’s World Cup history except that they’ll be playing for the second time only in the finals of a World Cup.

Between 1930 and 1970 like in 1982, they did not even enter in football’s most honorable tournament. But between 1974 and 1978, and between 1986 and 2002, it was unconvincing results that prevented them from qualifying.

2010: Qualified

2006: Round 1

Can Cote d’Ivoire transform their 2010 Africa Cup of Nations disappointment into hunger by making a serious impact during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?
Follow LivesoccerTV.com throughout to know that as the entire tournament will be covered here!

 

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