Ivory Coast Will Bring Goalscoring Threats to South Africa

All eyes will be on the up front duo of Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou for Ivory Coast but the bigger questions lie behind these two stars.

How they got here
Ivory Coast, or Cote d’Ivoire as they are officially known within FIFA, posted an undefeated record en route to only its second ever appearance in the World Cup. The first group phase saw a business like performance from Les Elephants. Three home wins over Botswana, Madagascar, and Mozambique, coupled with draws on the road to all three opponents, saw Ivory Coast top the group and progress to the final qualifying round.

The tempo was raised a notch in the second and final phase of qualification. A 5-0 stomping over Malawi at home was followed by road wins at Burkina Faso and Guinea. A further 5-0 home win over Burkina Faso put qualification almost beyond doubt before Les Elephants closed out the campaign with a 1-1 draw at Malawi and a convincing 3-0 home win over Guinea.

Who to watch
At +2200 to finish as top scorer Didier Drogba is going to have an impact on World Cup betting. Despite the tight organisation of the rest of the group’s defenses, the Chelsea striker is well capable of lighting up the scoreboard in South Africa. With Drogba’s Chelsea team mate Salomon Kalou adding to the attack, along with the threats of Aruna Dindane of Lens and Marseille’s Bakary Kone, this team has no shortage of firepower.

Defenders Emmanuel Eboue, of Arsenal, and Manchester City’s Kolo Toure will be vital to Ivory Coast’s defensive efforts. Yaya Toure of Barcelona will be a key man in midfield alongside the experienced Didier Zokora. The biggest concern amongst the starting line-up will be goalkeeper Boubacar Barry, who has little experience of facing top class opposition having spent most of his career in Belgium.

How they will perform
Talent won’t be the undoing on Ivory Coast but much of that same talent was there in 2006 and they failed to progress beyond the group stages. In 2010 there are questions surrounding the side with a strong qualifying campaign being followed up by only a quarter final appearance in the Cup of African Nations when much more was expected. This led to a change in manager with Sven Goran Eriksson, a man with an inconsistent record, taking charge.

This mix of ability and chaos makes it hard to call how Les Elephants will perform. They will be in the mix with Portugal to progress but I see them coming out on the wrong side of that battle.

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