Cote d'Ivoire
Flash Forward by Looking Back…
The Ivory Coast blog is back in time for the African Cup of Nations! I am super excited to be writing for the offside and…wait. Wait. The African Cup of Nations is not until…January? Oh geez, my first major soccer blog gig and I start off with a factual mistake. Well let’s just cover that up with a series of factually accurate statements, starting with myself.
My name is Elliott. I am from the United States. I like soccer, err, football, err futbol. I am writing about the Ivory Coast because, at the last World Cup, I fell in love with Les Éléphants. I do not speak French. Sacre bleu!
But seriously, for all the talk of Argentina and Spain, for my money the Ivory Coast put on a slick-passing exhibition. Despite being in a group of death, Les Éléphants played vibrant, technical, bursting football. Yes they gifted two early goals to Argentina, but the proud Elephants clawed back a goal. The Ivory Coast battled the Dutch to a similar 2-1 loss, leaking early goals but showing incredible resolve in the latter stages. Two games, two losses, but at least they managed to, cough cough, unite a nation.
Moral victories may not count, but the Ivory Coast will soon be back on soccer’s biggest stage. The Ivory Coast sealed their qualification for South Africa 2010 with a 1-1 away draw to last place Malawi. The hosts took a shock lead in the 60th minute, but Drogba promptly appeared in super sub mode to pull a rabbit out of his hat. And qualification for the World Cup also means qualification for the African Cup of Nations in 2010. Two tournament birds with one stone!
Thus, the November 14th game against Guinea should be a site of experimentation as younger players get a look. Then, a little over two weeks later, Les Éléphants will eagerly chitter chatter like school girls in anticipation of the African Cup of Nations group draw. Let’s hope it goes better than Germany 2006. In the meantime, I will brush up on my French and do some player profiling. Does anybody know Didier Drogba’s twitter account?
More Cote d'Ivoire World Cup News
We’re Through!
Just a quick update…
The Elephants defeated Australia 1-0 today, to move on to the next stage. They will face Nigeria next, a foe they are very familiar with. I’m feeling giddy, so I wanted to post a quick note! I’ll be back later with a preview of the next match….
Hooray!
... [read]
Is That a Guarantee?
Cissé Sékou, attaquant des éléphants olympiques : “Nous avons des atouts pour battre les Australiens”

Well, that isn’t exactly a guarantee, but…..it looks like des éléphants are beginning to show the confidence to match their skills.
Here’s a link to the article (French):
Here is a short summary:
The Serbians felt the wrath of ... [read]
Tough Loss
I haven’t had a chance to watch the game, but it looks like the Elephants were pretty evenly matched for most of the match. No goals from Kalou, but Cisse did not disappoint. Too bad Messi didn’t disappoint either. It makes me kinda wish Barca had recalled him!

The ... [read]
Let’s Learn About Cote d’Ivoire…
What’s the capital of Cote d’Ivoire?
The answer, of course, is Yamoussoukro.
If you knew the answer to that, then you are one step ahead of me. You might then ask why I would write a blog about the Cote d’Ivoire national team. The answer is simple, sort of. First off, I have a passion for African football. ... [read]
Not What I Had Expected
Well there is not much that I can really say here to make myself feel any better. Yesterday’s game reminds me a bit of a prizefight where the heavy weight champ gets knocked around a little bit early on and never really recovers, and in this case gets plain KO’d in the end. The Elephants never really recovered from what ... [read]
Elephants 5 Guinea 0
The Elephants dispatched
Guinea in a five goal drubbing yesterday. The Elephants attacked in waves early and often and it was only a matter before the floodgates and the goals starting raining in. A Kalou double with Drogba adding a goal as well was more than enough, but the attack just kept on going. As other supposed powerhouses struggle, Nigeria and
Ghana, ... [read]
Apologies
Congrats to Kanoute, who went home with African Footballer of the year award that I had all but handed to Dider Drogba. Drogba may have been more deserving but upon glancing at Kanoute’s numbers he was truly special for club and country. It is hard for me to swallow that he was better than Drogba, but supporting casts ... [read]
News and Notes to Lead us to the Quarters
THOUGHTS AND BEST WISHES TO ULI
Thoughts and well wishes out to the family of former Cote d’Ivorie coach Uli Stielke who lost his son this week, Uli had left the team to cope with the family situation. It seems a bit unfair that Uli had really put in the time in effort to the Elephants, and African football and he ... [read]
Elephants 3 – Mali 0

Nine minutes into the match Didier Drogba made a stamp on the group stage of the African Cup of Nations, scoring the sixth goal of the tournament for the Ivorians, and the only goal needed to defeat upstarts Mali. But the elephants did not stop there, they added two more goals one from Marko Zoro and ... [read]
Latest Comments
- Flash Forward by Looking Back...
who do you think will win the play off between egypt and algeria? vote now at www.africaplays.com ...[read more] - Flash Forward by Looking Back...
Great to see this blog back. I hope the Elephants can at least make it out of the group stages at t ...[read more] - Flash Forward by Looking Back...
The Ghanaians are still leading the poll "Who would you back to win the World Cup in 2010, between t ...[read more] - Flash Forward by Looking Back...
I hope you will "play fair" against Guinea. FIFA Fair-Play Code 2. Play to win but accept def ...[read more] - Flash Forward by Looking Back...
Who would you back to win the World Cup in 2010, between these two: Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana? (Intere ...[read more] - Flash Forward by Looking Back...
Jose - good call on the Ivory Coast talent pool. They are stacked and right Drogba is an absolute mo ...[read more] - Flash Forward by Looking Back...
Good to see you on hear Elliott, looking forward to your insights. You've picked a good team too! I ...[read more] - Flash Forward by Looking Back...
Awesome that this is back up and running! Although there will be six African teams at the World Cup ...[read more] - Tough Loss
Glad to see that the Côte d'Ivoire blog is back. - Let's Learn About Cote d'Ivoire...
Hey BigJacked...you know I'm a huge fan of "The Air Up There." I don't know about Kevin Bacon, but ...[read more] - Let's Learn About Cote d'Ivoire...
nice blog! totally agree! btw, "The Air Up There" was awesome! It has to be in Kevin Bacon's top 17 ...[read more] - Let's Learn About Cote d'Ivoire...
I heard Kalou drove off with some chicken heads in Steve Nash's ride that same night? Ha "chicken ...[read more] - Let's Learn About Cote d'Ivoire...
Looking forward to reading your posts Bobby. We beat ya'll 2-0 a few months ago in Paris :P Haha, no ...[read more] - Let's Learn About Cote d'Ivoire...
welcome aboard, special request don't exaggerate with this team because they are an over-rated one. ...[read more] - Let's Learn About Cote d'Ivoire...
I totally agree, dude. My thoughts exactly. Kalou is my man!! ...[read more]
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