The Road to South Africa

Qualification was marred by tragedy in March 2009 when a wall collapsed in the Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan as Ivory Coast prepared to take on Malawi. Twenty-two members of a capacity crowd that had come to see Didier Drogba’s return to competitive action were killed and more than 130 were injured. In the return game, Drogba’s equaliser guaranteed the nation a second successive World Cup. In terms of pure football, qualification was a straightforward affair. Ivory Coast won all but one of their qualifiers and in both their groups did not concede a goal at home. Halihodzic could enjoy his triumph – and then came the Cup of Nations.

The Star Players

Kolo Toure (Manchester City) Both Kolo and his brother Yaya Toure, who anchors BarcelonaÂ’s midfield, are crucial to Ivory CoastÂ’s chances of success. However, defensively, they struggled badly in the Africa Cup of Nations and Kolo, who was brought from Arsenal to captain City, has sometimes been uncertain of his place.

Salomon Kalou (Chelsea) But for his failure to obtain Dutch citizenship during his time with Feyenoord, Kalou could be driving down the left wing for Holland rather than Ivory Coast. He transferred to Chelsea for £9m and has kept his place under a succession of high-profile mangers.

Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal) At Arsenal he is more often seen as part of Arsene WengerÂ’s midfield but for his country Eboue lines up alongside his former Arsenal team-mate Kolo Toure in defence. Eboue has sometimes struggled to win over fans at the Emirates Stadium, but has demonstrated his worth in recent matches.

The Coach

Sven-Goran Eriksson To some he is an ice-cool football technician, to others a complete charlatan who will work for anyone who offers him a large enough cheque. What is undisputed is that the SwedeÂ’s career has been an uncoordinated zig-zag since he stepped down as England manager four years ago. It has taken in brief spells at Manchester City, Mexico and, most bizarrely of all, Notts County in the bottom tier of English league football but who offered him a lot of money to become director of football. This, however, more than anything he has done since 2006, will be the acid test of his ability.

Honours

World Cup: Group stage 2006.
Africa Cup of Nations: Winners 1992. Finalists 2006.

Analysis

What is so frustrating about African football is the politics. Had the Ivory Coast FA simply ignored the 3-2 defeat by Algeria in the Africa Cup of Nations, it would not have affected their preparations for a much bigger and more memorable affair in South Africa. The sacking of Halihodzic seemed to destabilise the side just when they needed to be focused. A team that had drawn 2-2 with Germany in November, slipped to an insipid 2-0 defeat to South Korea in March. And the pity of it all is that without interference, Ivory Coast would fancy their chances of going through behind Brazil. But any new coach will have precious little time to organise the squad and faces the most crucial match – against Portugal- first. They can go through and would give Spain a tough ride in the round of 16. If only politics had not interfered.

Verdict

Squad (3/5)
Strong, balanced and impressive. No team, not even Brazil, will be entirely comfortable facing them.

Coach (3/5)
Eriksson is a man who divides people utterly but he has got a talented squad in tournament conditions and he is being paid a lot of money. What more could he ask for?

Attack (3/5)
Didier Drogba once more missed out on the Champions League winnersÂ’ medal he craves. Success in the World Cup is all the motivation he needs.

Defence (3/5)
The Toure brothers and Eboue provide the kind of steel that not many teams –let alone African teams - can call upon.