Cote d’Ivoire sent crashing out of the World Cup

LET ME START BY STATING THAT i AM A TRUE SUPPORTER. For those of you who are Ivorian: ” je suis Babinaute!”
I have to say that I am proud of the team but truly and utterly disgusted and disgraced of Didier Drogba. For the D.D fans out there cover you ears!
For a guy who gets paid for this beautiful game, and who plays in the best league in the world. I HAVE TO SAY THAT HE IS A SOFTY(just to use the G rated word)
I have never seen a top scorer of his caliber or so they say take so many dives. This is unbelievable. I would send him back to the african leagues so he can grow some you know what. !!!!!He fall fo every single little thing! This is unseen!!!!If i was at the stadium I would have given him so nasty comments. I can not believe that he plays for Chelsea. I bet you he wont be starting anymore and Crespo and Tchev WILL BE THE # 1 MAN. I am so disgusted….. I hope the press back home trashes HIM…..I hope the world press trashes him.
AGAIN A SCORER OF HIS CALIBER ( or so they say) does not miss golden oppertunities. In egypt earlier this year I told everyone that he cost us the African cup. I really truly do not believe that he is that great of a scorer!!! True scorer execute……oh and they also come out winners….

To finish! I have to say that the rest of the boyz performed: KONE B. , KOLO, EBOUE, ZOKORA, DINDANE is a lil ify , and arouna kone is a whole other blog space…….

I would appreciated any feedback from this blog space.

Posted from  United States

not crashing! That was a great display against first the clear favorite to win it all and then one of the acknowledged toughest and best teams in Europe. I hope cote d’iviore plays for respect against S&M and delivers an emphatic win.

and unlucky to be in that group – most of the other groups? they’d be through…

Posted from  United States

it should’ve been a draw. Robbed of a penalty

Posted from  United Kingdom

The real score line should have been Ivory 3 holland 2. A real shame. This is obviously the best team from Africa. They didn’t get phased by either of their world class oppoenets. Hope to see them again in the next tourny

Posted from  United States

if the ivorys had wear a yellow jeresy i would have thought that was brazil skill stamina technique on their side the only thing missing was luck viva ivory coast heads up cant believe how ivory coast played they are amazing they dominated one of the best team holland from the start to finish the only disapointment for me was drogba he should have been substituted but the rest of the team playes are magnificient the scores doesnt tell the truth.

Posted from  United States

Hats off to the Ivory Coast. In my opinion they won the game. They outhussled, outplayed and really actually dominated posession against the Dutch. Now if only they could have gotten a fair shake by that “biased” referee. He was letting the Netherlands get away with assault and yellow carding IC players for brushing alongside a Dutch player, what a shame.. Hats off to you though IC, you were the better team!! Oh and Don, if you didn’t notice on the slow mo replays Drogba had Dutch players frickin hugging him everytime he was in the penalty box, there’s only so much you can do when the refs swallow their whistles!!

Posted from  United States

i agree with Don, i was very disppointed with Drogba’s performance in the game ve Netherlands, he got so many touches! His team was working hard to deliver him the ball! An in the end he didnt deliver, very very disappointing

Posted from  Philippines

Both Ivory coast games are the most entertaining match so far. Ivory coast players possed all the skill of playing the game but lacks the ability of finishing set plays. Their defense is also very poorly organized. Without true striker with creative abilities to finish a good run, it will impossible for any team to go far in the tournament, just like we witnessed the Ivory coast team sent home in the first round because they lacked strikers with creative ability to finish set plays, even though they outclassed both of their opponent in every other aspect.

Posted from  United States

Agree with Cen. The two Ivory Coast games have been the best standard of all the matches so far.

I also thought Eboue produced one of the best individual performances of any player last night. I thought he was vastly better than Arjen Robben, who was apparently FIFA’s man of the match.

Posted from  Australia

The best two games in the world cup so far – crule fate put them in a tough group. I believe they could have progressed in most other groups
its a shame one of the most entertaining teams in the whole thing out

Posted from  United Kingdom

Let me start by stating that I am a supporter of Ivory Coast and African fottball although I am not an African. Ivory Coast has played some good football, but has shown in both matches that it’s a bit naive team and lacks ability to score from chances, although it can create chances. A good team needs two or a maximum of three chances to score a goal. Ivory Coast needs seven to eight chances to score a goal. This is not enough if you want to play with the top teams in the world cup. This is not a low-level tournament like African cup. You are now playing at the World cup. Football is about scoring goals and nobody remebers how many chances you have created. I am very sad to say that Ivory Coast is not at the level of top teams. More training and a sense of urgency is required to compete at this level.

I urge all supporters to be realistic and force the African football authorities to do something about it, rather than trying to be complacent and being proud. Please stop saying that they played well. It is simply not enough. This football displayed by Ivory Coast has been at times wonderful, but it is properly called meaningless, worthless and harmless football because it is not accompanied by clinical finishing at the net. Ivory Coast players don’t have that capability. Bonaventure kalou, Drogba, Dindane, Kone, Zokora can not match the top strikers. They can not score. Their defence must also improve. They are particularly vulnerable during free kicks. They also need a better goalkeeper. They will have a chance again in four years time. Hope they will learn the lessons taught by Argentina and Holland and do something about it instead of being proud of displaying worthless, harmless football. I see a lot of blind supporters (and the players) feel proud to show some wonderful football. This will only cause more damage to African football. WAKE UP and DO SOMETHING. Even Ivory Coast coach says it is not at the level of the top teams.

I beleive you agree that the Ivory Coast french coach Michel knows more than us. Please read his statement below.

You can also read it at Sky Sports home page at :
http://home.skysports.com/worldcup/article.aspx?hlid=395781&CPID=4&clid=1221&lid=&title=Michel+eyes+improvement

This is what Ivort Coast coach Michel says:

“Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel has conceded his team have much to learn about playing at the highest level.

The African nation have won many fans at this World Cup, having produced some slick play in defeats to Argentina and Holland.

Friday’s defeat to Holland consigned Ivory Coast to the World Cup exit door and Michel admits the players need to add some steel to their silk if they are to prosper at future tournaments.

“Everyone tells me the team is wonderful but that’s not enough. Ivory Coast are not at the level of the top teams,” said the French coach.

Michel admits the players were disappointed to be heading home prior to the knockout phase.

“We had high hopes even though we knew it would be difficult,” he said.

Elaborating on what he felt led to their downfall, Michel added: “We needed too many opportunities to score and you cannot have that at World Cup level.”

Posted from  Sweden

Cote d’Ivoire put up a brave fight. Unlike the fellow who’s disgusted with Drogba, I am amazed no one who has dared to mention the poor officiating of that match. It seemed to me the referee has something against Cote d’Ivoire or else how couldn’t all the rough tackles on Drogba merit at least a free kick. Not to mention the handling of the ball by a Dutch defender on a heading coming off from Drogba. CIV did a good job and gave a good account of themselves. They were unjustly robbed of victory by the referee.

Posted from  Japan

Yes, I also noted that this
referee was biased against
the Ivorians.

Posted from  Malaysia

Talking about biasness, this
referee pretended to close
one eye when he waved
away a just penalty for Ivory
Coast.

To Don, didn’t you realize that
the Dutch was hacking away at
Didier Drogba, and the referee
chose to ignore all that ?

Posted from  Malaysia

I know I am a bit harsh on Drogba. No one here can tell me that it is without grounds. We can go down a list of amazing world class player but we can easily differentiate them from Drogba. They can be pulled, held, drag but they still know how to find the back of the net. Once more in early feb when we(I.C) met with Egypt for the AFRICAN CUP FINAL. Drogba missed a million opportunity that could have crowned up African champions. We all know the end story. Vice champion doesnt make you champion.
And to ZE, i like the fact that you mention the yellow jersey. You are make an insinuiation to the Brazilians….Well the difference is that the brazilians DO NOT MISS GOD GIVEN GOAL OPPERTUNITIES.

TO FINISH…..I am not priding myself in the fact that we played well because it is a poor achievement to build on. I hope in 2008 we win the AFRICAN CUP OF NATION cause I truly believe we were the better african side. Although : WE WERE STILL THE FIRST ONES OUT.

Congrats to the boyz…for the fight at least.

And I hope we get a better Keeper in the years to come.

LET US LEAVE THE REFS OUT OF THIS ONE. True champions win nonetheless………….

Posted from  United States

I do think that Boubacar Barry is a better
goalkeeper than Jean-Jacques Tizie, who
is good but tends to be erratic. He should
have been first choice.

I’ve seen Barry in action and he can handle
reflex saves in quick succession easily.
Moreover, Barry plays with Beveren, a
higher level club than the Tunisian one
which Tizie plays for.

And I was surprised that Guy Demel, an
experienced midfielder with Hamburg,
was sitting on the bench.

It’s unfortunate too that Salomon Kalou
has chosen not to play for his country.

Posted from  Malaysia

Awesome effort by the IC. Keep your heads up. You played very well against maybe the two best teams in the tourney.

I’m guessing you’re back in 2010.

Posted from  United States

Don, that’s a bit obtuse.. you can’t leave the refs out of it, they OFFICIATE the game, they directly affect the outcome of the game with calls that are biased true champions can’t win when the person OFFICIATING the match so blatantly has it out for them!!

Posted from  United States

fucked. but in 2010, there must be three african teams in the semi-finals — and croatia.

Posted from  Germany

Wonderful team, should have won the game against Netherlands.
Bad refree and dirty play by Netherlands.

Posted from  Canada

I tend to judge the nation’s character by how its team plays the football. By that standard, Ivory Coast, as a nation, seems to have a bright future. Young, hard-hitting, athletic, and fair-playing, despite Dutch and ref. Speaking of refs, looking at games where European and non-European teams play, I am now forced to think FIFA must have an ulterior motive of having European teams advance to the second round.

Posted from  United States

It’s such a pity that you ppl can’t advance to the next round. After all, you ppl played well against Argentina and Holland, unlike the repulsive play shown by your fellow African (Togo) that had displayed excessive rudeness by players toward opponents and their own coach. Anyway, we Singaporeans put high hopes for you ppl to win great victories in the 2010 World Cup!! Cheerio!

Posted from  Singapore

Too bad Cote d’Ivoire won’t advance. I had high hopes for them. Nevertheless, they played well and are fascinating to watch. They need to work on finishing goals though. But I expect to see them in 2010 along with Nigeria, Cameroun, Ghana (or Senegal) and Egypt . If Ghana advances during this tournament, Fifa may give us a 6th spot for 2010. The ivorian team has a lot to learn — it is their first world cup and i think they will have lots more opportunities in the future.

Posted from  United States

I’ve read some pretty good baloney from prevous readers…Ivory Coast play good soccer, how comes they didn’t win the nations cup…& some crap…Apperciate the game & interprete it! the elephants were dominated in both games! A team that has no respect for its opponent..that’s sick! Look at Ghana, you don’t hear them minimizing their oppponents…Who’s drogba to say he’s come to germany to play 7 ganmes? That’s bull crap & by they way their qwualification still remains a mystery to me! I hope they get thrashed (& i do see it coming) by the Serbes…

Posted from  United States

I agree with the idea that Drogba is overrated, he is a bad finisher, arouna Koné looks the worst player.
The best is bakari Koné, he looks like a little Maradonna.

Go Ivory cost

Posted from  France