World Cup 2010 South Africa
South Africa
The World Cup 2010 being held in South Africa, from the 11th June untill the 11th July. The best football once every four years. Don't miss the great action!
Ivory Coast vs Portugal
Match scheduled:
STRAT: 15-06-2010 from 14:00 until 16:00
Group G (Group Stage) :: Fifa World Cup South Africa 2010 :: Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, South Africa
2010 World Cup- Portugal vs. Ivory Coast preview
When playing in a group with Brazil, the other two matches that a team plays are extremely important. Such is the case for both Portugal and Ivory Coast, who will do battle on Tuesday knowing that it is almost certain that only one of the two of them will be able to advance past group play in the 2010 World Cup. Many are billing this the best match of pool play in this year's tournament.
What makes this case particularly interesting is the fact that prior to the World Cup, both Portugal and Ivory Coast were teams with reason to believe that they could make a run deep into the tournament. For both of them to have the opportunity, they will have to both find a way to finish ahead of the highest performing team in World Cup history.
Portugal enters Tuesday's match as the third-ranked team in FIFA's standings, and they will be looking to build on their performance in the 2006 World Cup, where they advanced to the semi-finals before losing to France 1-0 on a Zinedine Zidhane penalty kick, and then falling to Germany 3-1 for a fourth place overall finish. They will be led by midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo, the 2008 FIFA Player of the Year, who currently plays for Real Madrid. He led Manchester United to the 2008 Champions Cup, and he will look to help carry Portugal to the World Cup crown here in 2010.
The Portuguese struggled in qualifying for this year's cup, needing a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina to make the field. They will need to play at a much higher level if they are to advance out of Group G, which has been called "The Group of Death" by some.
To advance, Portugal will need to first fend off Ivory Coast, the top African team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Ivory Coast enters this year's event as no strangers to facing stiff competition in group play, having failed to advance last year after facing a group of Argentina, the Netherlands, and Serbia and Montenegro. Their hopes rest largely on the status of star forward Didier Drogba. The Manchester United star broke his arm in a recent friendly with Japan, and it seems unlikely that he will be recovered in time for the match. Ivory Coast's coach, Sven-Goran Eriksson, has declined to make a decision about Drogba's status, maintaining that his team will be ready to go with or without Drogba.
Certainly Ivory Coast's goal scoring ability will be hindered if their star is unable to perform, but either way look for this to be one of the most hotly contested matches of this round of the tournament.
