A bit uninspiring from IC. Drogba and Gervinho look class. Kone misses too many chances should of scored at least one.
well Bfaso effectively parked the bus, they gave CIV no space although they should have won anyways. I guess N Korea will look to do the same to CIV at the WC. Who can really blame BF after they already lost 3-2 and 5-0 to CIV in WCQ.
Drogba didn't exactly make much of an impression! The Ivory Coast midfield looked good but once Drogba is neutralised they seem to have little goalscoring power. Also some of the defending they really can't get away with v real quality opposition. Respect to the fighting spirit of Burkina Faso - but what in god's name was up with their shirt numbers.
midfield was good? what were you watching? that was their weakest formation with almost no creativity whatsoever... it was the full backs and wingers creating chances... besides Gervinho was the main threat and he can score goals. and really... if the opposing team parks a bus (only two offensive-minded players in the team) its hard to break the opposition down. Greece won the Euro playing like Burkina Faso. and they met similarly prolific goalscoring opposition. i sincerely doubt Portugal or Brasil will have 9 players defending for 90 minutes....
That's a fair point but fact remains that the Ivory Coast DID create chances - they simply didn't score. That's what I mean when I say they seem to be lacking goalscoring ability when Drogba is neutralised. I also did think their midfield looked their best area of the pitch. That's where the passing came from that created the chances. I also saw defenders trying to dribble themselves out of trouble in their own penalty area. That's either very naive or incredibly stupid. Btw I'm actually all for the Ivory Coast - they've got Twente's very own Cheik Tiote after all.
you must however note that the chances IC had were half-chances. i agree on several things: - most of IC remaining strikers are very wasteful, especially Dindane, Kalou, Kone (that said Gervinho and Keita are very efficient when offered opportunities to score - which they didn't have yesterday - and hoepfully Seydou Doumbia will be called up, who has an unbelievable 65% conversion rate in the Swiss league); - i was very uninspired by the quality of set pieces... first that should be IC's strongest suite, as they have at least 5 players with exceptional heading abilities; second have you seen Drogba's freekicks this season ??? He has been great in Chelsea. I sincerely hope they work on that... I really think IC miss good midfielders. Maybe Tiote might click or maybe Romaric was a better option... Toure and Zokora were great but they really failed to push up front, when they should have. I was also surprised Boka wasn't on the field. I like Siaka Tiene, but he is nowhere as good as Boka. I do however think that playing AFCoN and the WOrld Cup is totally different. IC was playing around with Burkina Faso (overconfidence lost them), while they won't play risky like that with Portugal or Brasil. I've said it before and I'll say it again Cote d'Ivoire lacks one thing, which is a nicely weighed team. I really think that the coach should make a brave decision and bench one of the two: Yaya Toure or Didier Zokora and bring in a proper midfielder. I know its a shame to bench one of them, as both are probably top 20 DMs in the world, and field one more proper midfielder.
Ghana - Cote-d'Ivoire http://www.soccerarmy.com/match/23466774/cote-d-ivoire-ghana/ http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=61862&part=sports
You can count on that. They will leave open spaces. But, of course, they have what they need to mount lethal attacks. Burkina Faso doesn't. Since that group may come down to whom can score the most goals against North Korea, Les Éléphants need to develop ideas to break such a bunker. Long distance shots, centers from wing play, change of passing speed, ingenious through-balls, perfect set plays, etc. Whatever means necessary. Many small teams have mastered the art of the bunker, nowadays.
1-0 CdI winning at the start of the second, against a surprisingly ineffective Ghana. About 10 mins. into the second, Ghana is dominating and Eboué, in a foolish foul right in front of the ref, gets himself sent off. CdI with 10, Ghana now going for the tie. This is getting interesting.
And that's it. Chico Tiene scores an impressive free kick from the right, with a curved ball. Côte d'Ivoire 2 - 0 Ghana. Impressive win with 10 men. Also, Ghana's defense has been weak.
3:1 Deserved win by Cote d'Ivoire. Three great goals made by Yaya Toure (scored by Gervinho), Siaka Tiene and Kader Keita (scored by Drogba). Ghana scores after a ridiculous penalty call. What was up with the changes by the Ghana coach? You are trailing 2:0, 20 minutes to the end of the match and you bring in a defender (Afful) for a offensive minded player (Opoku) while you have two young prospective strikers on the bench (Osei, Adiyiah). WTF? What was
very good test of character by CIV who played a man down for over 30 minutes and scored 2 goals shorthanded, (this is how deadly their attack is) On top of this I have to say that it didn't really look like CIV even got going, they have yet to hit their top form in this tournament and they still beat Ghana with 10 men (although it was a very weakened Ghana) This sets up an exciting final match in the 3 team group, Ghana wins they are through anything less they are out. Perfect scenario for neutral fans. Will Burkina Faso just bunker for another draw ? If so, can Ghana break them down ? I have to say I am impressed by that Kwadwo Asamoah guy, he looks really good.
http://tinyurl.com/Ivory-Coast-vs-Ghana-3-1-VIDEO Goals and highlights Deserved victory for Elephants
Ghana's defending was so poor, I think he was trying to avoid a bigger loss. They had a good build for the attack, but no one to score. Deserved win for CdI, and with 10 men after the 55 minute. PS: This Ghana team is a shadow of the team that played so well in the quals: Paintsil, Appiah, Muntari and Mensah are injured. In particular, the absence of Appiah and Muntari was obvious today: the midfield did not work.
You keep repeating that the Ghana defence was poor, but it wasn't. Vorsah was impressive for the most part, as was Addo. All 4 defenders held their line perfectly. I fail to see how you can say the defence was poor... Yeah, they lost 3 goals but all three were nice goals (and the second goal went in after a brilliant free kick given for an imaginery foul). You could give Inkoom the third goal, but it was really an unlucky challenge on tough surface, not bad defending. The first goal was Ghana being dismantled by a fast counter. It could happen to every team in the world, including teams like Italy or Germany.