Photo: Kagawa and Yaya Toure (Getty Images)
The ‘Golden Generation’ from the Cote D’Ivoire has one final opportunity to make a big impression on the world stage but their first challenge is against Japan as they open their account at the FIFA 2014 World Cup. This should be an intriguing fixture with some good football but the West Africans will know that they can’t just over-power their Japanese opponents.
The Samurai Blue has been progressing over the years and are by no-means a push over for any team. They like to possess the ball and have some very good players who have great touch and are quite sound technically. The Elephants has players with good technical ability but they are also a team with a lot of pace and power which could see them over-running the Japanese.
Young French manager Sabri Lamouchi should have the experienced Boubacar Barry of Lokeren in goal with Liverpool’s Kolo Toure and Didier Zokora in central defense. Toulouse rising star Serge Aurier who has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal should be at right back and Stuttgart’s Arthur Boka at left back.
The powerful yet crafty combination of Man City’s Yaya Toure and Newcastle’s Cheick Tiote could dominate in the middle of the park with St Etienne’s Max Gradel, Roma’s Gervinho, Saloman Kalou of Lille and skipper Didier Drogba in attack.
Standard Liege’s Eiji Kawashima will be the safe hands for the Japanese behind the central defensive pair of Southampton’s Maya Yoshida and Yasuyuki Konno of Gamba Osaka. They have excellent options at right and left back in Schalke’s Atsuto Uchida and Yuto Nagatomo of Inter Milan.
Their skipper and dictator Makoto Hasebe of Frankfurt has recovered from his injury problems and should take his place in central midfield alongside all time leader on caps Yasuhito Endo of Gamba Osaka. The attacking threat should be led by star man Keisuke Honda of Milan along with Manchester United’s intelligent playmaker Shinji Kagawa and big Shinji Okazaki of Mainz up front.
This is a tough one to call because the Samurai Blue has good World Cup pedigree and that experience could be crucial. The Ivory Coast has never advanced to the knock-out stages in their two previous World Cups but they now have a very strong and powerful team that can play some excellent football.
The Elephants have been criticized in the past for their indiscipline but coach Lamouchi seems to have thrown that out the window. If they use their pace, power and exciting football then they should get the better of Japan but the Samurai Blue can hurt them with the quality they have going forward and are quite balanced defensively. It is a close one that can go either way.
Players to Watch:
Ivory Coast – Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba, Serge Aurier
Japan – Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa, Makoto Hasebe
You must be logged in to post a comment Login