The Ivory Coast has a tough job ahead of them. If they can pull off the historical lopsided win against North Korea today they have a chance of advancing from Group G, making them the second African Nation to make it through to the knockout round following in Ghana's footsteps.
The Ivory Coast Elephants will have to overcome a nine-goal differential to unseat second place from Portugal, meaning they will have to win by at least eight if Portugal losses their match with Brazil in a minimum 1-0. The last time the scoreboard read 8-0 at a World Cup was in 2002 during a group match when Germany defeated Saudi Arabia. However, as hard as the Elephants play today they will be knocked out regardless of their games outcome if Portugal scores a goal in their game against Brazil. So chances are looking pretty slim for Ivory Coast advancement in this World Cup.
The Ivory Coast has one point from their two matches so far after a scoreless draw with Portugal on the 15th of June and a 3-1 loss to Brazil on Sunday. "We needed to be a bit more clinical and do a better job of finishing off some of the counter-attacks we had," defender Kolo Toure said of their last two games. "We've got no margin for error in our next match, we need to be more compact and put away our chances."
The Ivory Coast is in a position where they need to score some goals today, and a lot of them, if they are to have any chance of advancing. It’s looking more and more likely that Coach Sven-Goren Eriksson will restore forward Gervinho, who was very impressive against Brazil.
This is the second World Cup in a row that the Ivory Coast finds itself in a Group of Death, their fate already sealed. Didier Drogba broke his arm 11 days before the team’s opening World Cup match, had he been in better condition before playing Portugal in their opening group game match the Ivory Coast might not be in such a dire position, needing only a minor miracle instead of such a major one. “It's better to have Didier Drogba, even if he's not 100 percent fit," said Eriksson, whose team will do all that they can to turn around the unlikely goal difference.
The last time North Korea made it through to the second round was in 1966 when they made it to the quarterfinals, so this year’s team has a lot riding on them as well.
Coach Kim Jong Hun will try and regroup the team after having picked the same starting players for the past two matches. This new starting lineup will focus on strengthening their defensive system after the team’s devastating 7-0 loss to Portugal. This was the fourth time in World Cup history a team has lost 7-0.
Forward Tae-Se Jong, who transferred from his former Japanese Club team Kawasaki Frontale to a European team, will only have one more shot at proving his skills. Jong has failed to score on nine shots but did get an assist on YunNam Ji’s goal in the Brazil game. The team will be playing without Pak Chol-Jin, and Hong Yong-jo, who are suspended.
As for the matchup between Ivory Coast and North Korea, This is the first time the two teams have met but the Ivorians have the advantage especially after North Korea’s less than impressive second half showing against Portugal. North Korea held high expectations coming into the World Cup, and were a team praised for their patriotism and passion on the field. A description that sounds like a completely different team this side of North Korea has yet to be revealed and if the pressure from today’s game doesn’t bring it out of them, maybe they didn’t deserve to be here in the first place.
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