At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Cote d’Ivoire were unfortunate enough to be grouped with Argentina, Holland, and Serbia and Montenegro. Even so, they nearly made it out – losing by a 2-1 scoreline to both Argentina and Holland before beating Serbia and Montenegro 3-2. Had Les Elephants been drawn into another section, they probably would have advanced. But that’s the luck of the draw. And, in that case, the draw produced a group of death.

    At the 2008 African Nations Cup, Cote d’Ivoire find themselves in a group of death yet again. And once more, qualifying for the knock-out stage is no sure thing. Benin will be a cakewalk; but both Nigeria and Mali have their eye on the trophy – never mind getting out of the group. Obviously, one of the three will not. And there will be some spectacular, suspenseful football between then and now.

    Most of manager Gerard Gili’s squad has been assembled from around Europe. Chelsea’s Didier Drogba is clearly the household name; although other big clubs such as Arsenal, Sevilla, Werder Bremen, Barcelona, and Lyon have also contributed talent.

    Drobga’s fitness will be Gili’s chief concern. The 29-year-old has been out of the Chelsea lineup for over a month and will not have played a meaningful game in some time when Cote d’Ivoire face Nigeria in Sekondi on 21 January. That said, Drogba at 70 or even 60 per-cent is better than most. But Gili won’t have put all his eggs in one basket, anyway.

    Abdul Kader Keita is a capable goalscorer. He tallied 14-goals over 63 Ligue 1 matches while at Lille before a summer move to Lyon. Racing Lens’ forward Aruna Dindane, with 14-goals in 40-caps, can make a contribution as well. The player to watch, however, is Boubacar Sanogo. The 25-year-old Werder Bremen striker burst onto the scene in the Bundesliga this autumn and has scored 7-goals in 11-matches for the club. He’s a relative newcomer to international football, however, with just 3-caps to his name.

    Yaya Toure will hold the midfield together. He’s already doing it week in, week out at Barcelona. At 6-foot-3, the 24-year-old casts an intimidating shadow over any tricky attacking player. Tottenham’s Didier Zokora will partner him in a defensive midfield role.

    Defensively, Gili will restore Emmanuel Eboue to his original position. The 24-year-old Arsenal player has been transformed into a right-sided midfielder by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger; but his natural role is as a right full-back. He will be joined at the back by Arsenal teammate Kolo Toure. Bolton’s Abdoulaye Meite will be among the starters as well.

    Clearly, this Cote d’Ivoire side looks a good bet to emulate their countrymen of 1992 and lift the African Nations Cup. That said, the majority of this squad is rather young, Drogba notwithstanding. They will be even better in Angola in 2010.

Key players: Didier Drogba (FW, Chelsea); Boubacar Sanogo (FW, Werder Bremen); Yaya Toure (MF, Barcelona); Emmanuel Eboute (D, Arsenal); Kolo Toure (D, Arsenal)

 

    At the moment, there is no African side which boasts as much attacking talent as Nigeria. In fact, the assortment of gunslingers in Berti Vogts’ squad would be the envy of a good many international managers from throughout Europe and South America. As many as three first-class strikers will fail to find their way into the lineup when the Super Eagles commence their group phase against Cote d’Ivoire on 21 January.

    Yakubu is unlikely to be one of them. The Everton forward has scored 14-goals in 32-matches for Nigeria and is just coming into form at Goodison Park. After a slow start which followed his summer move from Middlesbrough, he has tallied 9-goals in 15-appearances for the Toffees.

    After him, it gets somewhat more complicated. Obafemi Martins would be the obvious pick; but he has struggled to get into the starting-XI at Newcastle of late. Still, the 23-year-old has managed 7-goals this season and bagged an impressive 17 last term. Internationally, he has scored 13-times in 19-outings.

    Fortunately, John Utaka is quite comfortable as a right-sided midfielder. As a centre-forward at Rennes, however, he was one of the top strikers in France. But Harry Redknapp has made the successful conversion at Portsmouth this season – to the effect of four goals. The 26-year-old has been one of the bright surprises of the Premier League season so far.