Ivory | Soccercapper

Ivory Coast (33/1 to win the World Cup) have been rocked by the news that star striker Didier Drogba will miss this summer’s World Cup tournament in South Africa after suffering a broken right arm in a pre-tournament friendly against Japan.

The striker was helped off the pitch having collided with Marcus Tulio Tanaka and according to Manchester City defender Kolo Toure the player’s “World Cup is finished.”

It was originally believed that the player had fractured his right elbow but later reports showed that their was a break in the right arm.

Drogba had scored the Ivoirian’s first goal in the match after his free-kick was deflected past the keeper before he went in for a challenge with Tanaka.

After the match former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson was very concerned with his star player’s condition he said: “It’s an elbow injury. How bad it is, I don’t know. He had a lot of pain.

“Of course I’m worried. He’s captain and one of the world’s best players,” he added.

Although Eriksson was devastated by the news of the injury, he did not believe that it was a bad challenge by the Japanese player.

He said: “It was unlucky. It wasn’t bad or stupid. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. Football is a game of contact,” added Eriksson.

Drogba is a key player for the African side who have been seen as the strongest team from the continent ahead of the tournament.

The 32-year-old has been a major player for the national side and for his club Chelsea.

The Blues won the Premier League title from rivals Manchester United and were victorious in the final of the FA Cup against Portsmouth.

This was the first domestic double in the club’s 105 year history, a season in which Drogba scored 29 Premier League goals, winning the golden boot award.

Ivory Coast are in Group G also known as the ‘group of death’ as they face Portugal (Ivory Coast 9/4, draw, 23/10, Portugal 11/10 in the match betting), North Korea and Brazil.

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world cup trophy 225x300 Premiership Contingent Crucial To Ivory Coast Challenge The Ivory Coast reached their first World Cup Finals in 2006 but were unfortunate to end up in a hideously tough group. They have another difficult task in South Africa but the Elephants have the potential to be Africa’s best hope.

The Elephants will rely heavily on Premiership influence with five players who appeared regularly in this season’s competition and all of them very experienced internationals.

Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure, Aruna Dindane and Emmanuel Eboue all have over fifty international caps and the youngest, Chelsea’s Salamon Kalou, has a respectable twenty-four.

Most of the Ivorian squad play in Europe but many are outside the really big leagues- England Spain, Italy and Germany. The five Premier League men form the biggest contingent from an elite league- there are four from Spain but one of those, Didier Zokora, used to play in England.

Drogba is the talisman of the side with 43 goals in just 66 matches. Even more than that, the striker is the on-field leader of the team and major source of inspiration. His slightly below par form in Germany 2006 was a key factor in their demise.

Toure and Zokora form the anchors of the defence and midfield respectively and are the two most capped players in the squad. Each will be vital to handling the attacking challenge that they will face from the Brazilian and Portuguese sides. It helps that both are well versed in playing against Christiano Ronaldo.

Beating Portugal- or at least forcing a draw- is the key to the group as Brazil are expected to lead the way and North Korea ought to finish at the bottom. The two teams clash in the opening fixture of the group and Ivory Coast end against the Koreans. If all goes well they will know what they need in that last game.

Dindane and Kalou could be competing to play alongside Drogba, although if goals are needed to edge out Portugal, new head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson might deploy all three Premiership forwards against North Korea.

Eboue is a valuable utility man for a tournament squad with his ability to play right side midfield and right back. Eriksson is likely to start him in the back four but the Arsenal man could find himself pushed further forward at times.

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