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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Chelsea edged out Manchester United by a single point which meant these two clubs have shared the last six Premiership titles. So on the surface little had changed in the competition but in practice, the Premier League is undergoing radical alterations.
All the midweek excitement in the Premiership centred on Tottenham’s win over Manchester City which guaranteed the North London club their first crack at the Champions League. However, they still have something more to play for.
The Gunners still hold the advantage over their bitter rivals, although they have to assume that Spurs will take maximum points from their trip to Burnley on the final day of the season.
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has assured fans that the Latics are heading to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on Sunday in search of a victory.
With just two or three games left for all the teams involved, no club has taken a firm grasp on fourth position in the Premier League- which brings with it the coveted final qualifying place for next season’s Champions League.