Ivory Coast
2014
,
Brazil
,
FIFA
,
Group C
,
Ivory Coast
,
World Cup
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Ivory Coast - Group C (Colombia, Greece, Japan)
Relatively recent contenders at the World Cup stage, Ivory Coast are playing their third straight Cup after first qualifying for 2006 finals. They are one of the stronger teams from Africa and had a comparatively easy qualifying campaign to back up with. They have little or no experience playing against their group opponents, having only played Japan, twice before
Profile - African Stars
The top ranking African side of the tourney are also home to some of the best individual talent from the continent. Apart from the aging stars, their general weaknesses include lack of experience at the big tourneys and patchy defense
The Ivorian strike force is strong enough though, featuring enviable pairing of Drogba and Kalou, they are known to often score early and frequently, even from losing positions
Confederation: CAF (Africa)
Coach: Sabri Lamouchi (FRA)
FIFA Ranking: 21 (8-May-2014)
Nickname: Les Elephants (The Elephants)
Key Players: Drogba, Gervinho, Toure
Legends: Tiehi, Pokou, Fofana
History - Recent Entrants
Although Ivory Coast competed for the World Cup since 1974, they didn't qualify until 2006 and they followed it up with 2010 and 2014 qualification. But due to drawing in tougher groups with superior opponents, they couldn't get out their respective groups. The only notable international achievement of Ivory Coast till now is 1992 African Cup Championship, which they won by beating Ghana on penalties
Qualifiers - Unbeaten Run
Ivory Coast and Nigeria are the only two teams from CAF to qualify for the World Cup unbeaten but the Ivorians has a very superior goal scoring rate, they scored in every match, and literally cruised through their qualifying. Their only moment of scare was in the final round second leg of playoffs when Senegal tried to pull off a victory on away goal margin. The moment looked short-lived as Kalou's goal qualified them with an aggregate of 4-2
Prospects - Opportunity
While the last two World Cups ended with the nation facing much superior groups, this edition brings hopes to the team who looks to qualify for the knockouts for their first time. They've to perform against "relatively matched" Japan, "tough nut to crack" Greece and "prone to late lapses" Colombia to get out the group and the prospects doesn't look too bad
Squad
Goalkeepers:
Boubacar Barry (Lokeren), Sylvain Gbohouo (Sewe Sport), Sayouba Sande (Stabaek)
Defenders:
Kolo Toure (Liverpool), Sol Bamba (Trabzonspor), Didier Zokora (Trabzonspor), Serge Aurier (Toulouse), Arthur Boka (Stuttgart), Ousmane Viera Diarrassouba (Caykur Rizespor), Constant Djakpa (Frankfurt), Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro (Toulouse)
Midfielders:
Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Cheik Tiote (Newcastle), Serey Die (Basel), Max Gradel (Saint Etienne), Diomande Ismael (Saint Etienne), Didier Ya Konan (Hannover), Mathis Bolly (Dusseldorf)
Forwards:
Gervinho (Roma), Didier Drogba (Galatasaray), Salomon Kalou (Lille), Wilfried Bony (Swansea), Giovanni Sio (Basel)
Fixtures
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