A Football Report

By John Ray, follow on Twitter.

“Les Elephants”, the footballers of the Ivory Coast, help captivate and enthrall a nation while playing against Madagascar: large outdoor television flicker and the metropolis of Abidjan rustles. Arouna Kone (PSV) crosses to Salomon Kalou (Chelsea) at the edge of the area; the supporters swell in deliverance as he belts the ball into the Malagasy net. There are chants and dances to the djembe drum in the stands and in Abidjan; life in the country is good. A month later the stadium is empty, except for a smattering of people around the halfway line. ASEC Mimosas, the Ivory Coast’s most successful team, are playing a match, but no one seems to care. Ivorian international football has always had the capacity to unite and excite the nation, but interest in domestic football has gradually shrunk to null as the push for Europe has consumed the clubs. ASEC and its academy provide a perfect example of the effects (good and bad) of what is, for the lack of a better term, player commoditization.

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Posted by Eric Beard

Well, Brazil deserved their 3-1 win against the Ivory Coast. Luis Fabiano scored a blinder to break the deadlock, and although his second goal was clearly a handball, it had Joga Bonito written all over it. Elano scored his second goal of the tourney today well to make it three to nothing before Didier Drogba saved a bit of pride for Africa and his home country.

And while we all may have a less than expected case of Drogba fever, I’m still perfectly happy to support all the good he does to fight AIDS. I’m tweeting #EndAIDS to try to get a little good coming out of all this madness going on via Twitter; why not join me?

Pictures from the Brazil-Ivory Coast match are below.

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By Dominic Vieira, reporting from Portugal

Analysis of the player’s performance in the Group G clash between Ivory Coast and Portugal

IVORY COAST (4-3-3)

Barry: Badly beaten by Ronaldo’s shot in the 10th minute. Had little work to do. 6

Demel: Great display from the HSV defender. Completely shut down Ronaldo and Danny whenever they marched down the right flank. Also blocked out Coentrão. 7

Kolo Toure: The captain didn’t have much to do tonight, easily kept Liedson quiet and started the team’s offensive plays. 6

Zokora: Strange to see him playing as a centre back but did a great job. Made important clearance. His speed and anticipation cancelled out Ronaldo. 7

Tiene: Solid defending on the left flank whenever Portugal attacked down it. Kept Ronaldo and Paulo Ferreira quiet. However, he wasn’t as effective with set-pieces. 6

Eboue: The versatile Arsenal man didn’t do much tonight, never got involved in the match. replaced in the final stages for Romaric. 5

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By Dominic Vieira, writing from Portugal

The Group G clash between Drogba’s Ivory Coast and Ronaldo’s Portugal failed to live up to its hype and anticipation, in fact it was an incredibly boring goalless draw. The game was seen as one of the most entertaining matches of the group stages. Unfortunately, many fans will be extremely disappointed and frustrated with the quality of the game, especially Portugal’s performance. This is not World Cup football.

The match kicked off with a huge Ivory Coast set-back, their leader Dider Drogba was sat on the bench and was clearly missed. The intensity and emotion at kick off was powerful, both sides were confident and competing for the opening goal. Portugal created the danger first, in the 10th minute Cristiano Ronaldo from outside of the box blasted the ball against the post. Boubacar was lucky not to suffer a goal as he was caught out of position. This early chance promised us an exhilarating football match, but the climax was soon shattered. That was Portugal’s most dangerous chance throughout the match and they never truly threatened Ivory Coast’s goal again.

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Posted By Eric Beard

While I’ll let it up to you guys to decide whether or not Japan’s Marcus Tulio Tanaka intentions were malicious when he came in for a challenge with his right knee leaping into the Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba. Controversy has sprung from all across the world from Tanaka’s tackle. After all, Tanaka is Brazilian born, and he has clearly done his homeland quite the favour. Drogba, though a terrifying force to face, will mostly likely not get the chance to compete in another World Cup because he is 32-years-old. So, for me, watching Drogba grab his arm and cringe in pain was like watching a whole continent suffer. Knowing Drogba, he’ll play through the pain. That’s because he realizes that he is not simply a footballer, but he is a symbol of hope for his Ivory Coast that desperately needs hope from anywhere it is to be found. Will he be 100% fit? Probably not, but we’ve all learned from the past few years that what Drogba wants, Drogba gets.

By Darshan Joshi, writing from Australia

This Friday (June 4), the Japanese will be taking on Ivory Coast in Sion, Switzerland as both teams’ final World Cup warm-up match. The Japanese will feel hard done by after their rather unlucky defeat at the hands of England a few days ago, when two own-goals in the latter stages of the match turned a 1-0 lead into a 1-2 deficit.

The Asian powerhouses will be hoping to introduce Shunsuke Nakamura into the match at some point, following the former Celtic and Espanyol star’s recovery from an ankle injury. We all know of his prowess from free-kicks, and in a tough World Cup group which includes the likes of the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon, his ability to slice defences open from dead-ball situations will be vital. 

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