Preview of Ivory Coast vs. Portugal in World Cup Soccer 2010
It’s being labelled as the ‘true’ match of the group stages where both teams have equal credentials in both defensive and offensive strategies. With Brazil playing in the same group, Group G is clearly the “group of death” in World Cup 2010. Any of these three teams failing to progress to the next round would be a big miss in the knock out stage of the World Cup. However, it is obvious that there are only two qualification places available from each group and the third will have to return home in despair.
The Ivory Coast versus Portugal game also served as the pool opener in Group G which was probably the most important match for both teams. Brazil on the other hand is a level above both these teams which is why today’s battle will be crucial for a second spot in the group. In such a scenario, there is nothing better than a head-to-head encounter to settle all the claims. Ivory Coast head coach Sven Goran Eriksson will not need to be reminded of the Portuguese ability as his England team was knocked out by Portugal in Euro 2004 and then again in the 2006 World Cup.
Portugal is captained by the most expensive footballer around in club football who goes by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo. He is ably supported by players like Deco, Simao, Tiago and Ricardo Carvalho. On the other hand, the Ivory Coast team as the Toure brothers, Didier Zokora, Gervinho and Salomon Kalou. Their captain Didier Drogba was not able to start the previous match after he had suffered a broken arm in the pre-tournament friendlies.
The match will rather be remembered for the defensive discipline that both teams had showed despite the attacking talent that they had. It came to life much earlier than fans had experienced in this World Cup so far. All the trickery in the Portuguese team was on display right from the start which was capped by a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick from 30 yards. It rattled the goal post, leaving the hearts of the African continent in their mouth.
The Ivorians then started to find their feet in the match with a couple of chances going just wide of the Portuguese goal. The scenario got heated up just in time when players from both sides suffered from some serious fouls which resulted in retaliation and arguments. As expected, most of the Portuguese attacks came through Cristiano Ronaldo but he was also a victim of regular tackles from the Ivory Coast team.
The Elephants turned up out to be the strongest after the half-time interval with most attacks coming through Gervinho. Portugal on the other end were hoping that their skipper will win it for them single-handedly as very few in the white and green kit had a decent game in South Africa 2010.
Ivory Coast got a major boost when their influential striker and skipper Didier Drogba was introduced in the match. The crowd gave him a hero’s welcome, probably because this was the only moment in the match that they could really applaud. Drogba got a half chance in the dying moments of the match but he could not covert.
The match ended in a goalless draw, leaving many areas for both the teams to improve on. Portugal needs to depend less on Cristiano Ronaldo and get more variety in their attacking moves. Ivory Coast, however, could hope that return of their captain would inspire them to build on a positive yet fruitless performance.
With both Ivory Coast and Portugal equally poised in the group points table, their matches against Brazil and minnows North Korea have become crucial. By the look of it, any team who manages to get some sort of success against the Brazilians would earn them a big, big advantage in Group G. Not to mention, North Korea will not rollover in front of either Ivory Coast or Portugal and is expected to display a stubborn but disciplined show just like they did against the Brazilians.
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