World Cup 2010 Blog: “World Cup Team History: Côte d’Ivoire.” plus 1 more |  |
| World Cup Team History: Côte d’Ivoire. Posted: 08 Apr 2010 04:40 AM PDT
For a country with such expectations going into South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire doesn’t have much of a World Cup history – and what little of it there is isn’t spectacular. So 2010 will be something of a fresh beginning, they’ll hope. World Cup 2006, GermanyFrom the outset, it was never going to go well: Argentina, Holland, Serbia & Montenegro. The first two need no introduction, but Serbia & Montenegro had that Famous Four defense which conceded a lone goal in qualification. They’d become much less Famous after being shellacked by Argentina 6-0, but it was still a daunting task for the Ivory Coast/Cote d’Ivoire (however you prefer). Their first World Cup debut, as opposed to their second debut, was against Argentina, which really isn’t nice. No hospitable warm up or anything of the sort, even if expectations were tepid by lofty Argentine standards. The Superstar, Drogba, would get his goal, but it wouldn’t end well: a 2-1 loss. The next game was no great reprieve, coming up against the Netherlands. As was the case with the first game, they’d go down two goals – each game featuring one from a veteran poacher. From there, it would be bittersweet: Bakary Kone’s good finishing and even better cornrows would get a goal back, but it was Didier Zokora’s screamer off the woodwork which led to wondering what could’ve been. A draw possible, but another 2-1 loss, and an early exit from the World Cup, it would be. That brought up the mathematically meaningless game between CdI and S&M, as neither team had anything left to play for. This one begun with an all too familiar tone: an early 2-0 hole. But from there, it was the Ivory Coast’s comeback show. A penalty scored – twice – by Arouna Dindane, a header after sub Albert Nad had been sent off – followed by a superb dance routine at the corner with Didier Drogba – and another late, late penalty meant their first ever World Cup win. It also means the Ivory Coast is the only World Cup team in history to score a goal in every World Cup game in which they’ve played (or so says Wikipedia). No pressure in the Group O’Death… - For more on the Ivory Coast read Elliot’s Ivory Coast blog.
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| Uruguay World Cup 2010 Team Profile Posted: 07 Apr 2010 08:44 AM PDT
Read on for our Uruguay team profile, which is hopefully informative but isn’t meant to be authoritative. So if you disagree with anything in the preview, feel free to do so via the comments.
FIFA World Ranking as of March 31st 2010: #18
Key Players: The obvious standouts is striker Diego Forlan, who may need a haircut but has no trouble finding the back of the net. The Atletico Madrid striker won the Pichichi award fortop scorer in La Liga last season, as well the European Golden Shoe. If Forlan doesn’t get you then Luis Suarez might. The strong but nimble forward has been banging in goals for Ajax (where he’s captain at 23) and has formed a productive international partnership with Forlan. Last but not least is captain and central defender Diego Lugano, who earns his money in the Turkish Superlig with Fenerbahçe. Player with best YouTube video: Got to be Luis Suarez. The man can dribble. Player with best name: Diego Lugano. Because you know at least one commentator will accidentally call him Diego Luna in the coming months. Player with best nickname: Easily Diego Forlan, who’s known as “Cachabacha”, a fictional South American witch. I’ll leave you to guess why that is. Qualification: Only just. Uruguay could have secured automatic qualification by beating Argentina in the final game of CONMEBOL qualifying, but lost 1-0 to an 84th minute goal instead, and so had to face a play-off against CONCACAF’s Costa Rica, which La Celeste won 2-1 over two legs. Doesn’t matter how you get there though, as long as you get there. Interesting: The four stars above the Uruguay crest represent their two World Cup wins, plus two Olympic gold medals. But we’ll let it slide, because the two golds were won in 1924 and 1928, back when the summer Olympics was the only world championship for international football teams. National Anthem: Kit: Sky blue shirt, black shorts, black socks. The 2010 home jersey looks like this: World Cup History: Expectations: Group A is tough, but Uruguay will expect to make it to the last 16. Squad: TBA Blog: Esteban is following La Celesre on the Uruguay blog. - More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.
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Uruguay have been drawn into World Cup 2010 Group A, along with France, Mexico and host nation South Africa. Not an easy group, but Uruguay will be glad to return to World Cup action after missing out in 2006.
Coach: The man in charge is Oscar Tabárez. There’s not a great deal of info about Tabárez out there (at least not in English anyway), but I can tell you he’s been in charge since 2006 and has managed more club teams than you’ve had hot dinners. From Peñarol in his native Uruguay, to Deportivo Cali in Colombia, Boca Juniors in Argentina, Real Ovideo in Spain and even the might Milan in Italy (though only briefly, in 1996). Tabárez has lead Uruguay before, coaching Enzo Francescoli and co. to the last 16 at the 1990 World Cup, and recently made the semi-finals of the Copa America in 2007.
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