Cote d’Ivoire – the best in Africa?
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If the strength of a national team can be judged by their representation of players in Europe’s top leagues and clubs, then the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire must be regarded as the favourites to win the MTN Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana early next year.
Admittedly they are not yet mathematically certain of a place in next year’s finals, but only a highly unlikely thrashing at the hands of Gabon on the weekend of 7-9 September will deny the 2006 runners up a chance to go one step better in Ghana.
In the last two Nations Cup tournaments it has been the hosts (Tunisia in 2004, Egypt in 2006) who have walked away with the glory, but this time around the sheer depth of Ivorian players who have become indispensable to top European clubs makes Cote d’Ivoire favourites to buck that trend.
Who better to demonstrate this than Elephants skipper Didier Drogba, a goal scoring machine without whom Chelsea would not have enjoyed a successful 2006/07 season.
His 33 goals included 20 in the Premier League – handing him England’s golden boot award – as well as winning strikes in the finals of both the League and FA Cup.
The indefatigable Drogba soldiered bravely on in a season where Chelsea suffered a massive injury crisis, and his presence gave Blues coach Jose Mourinho a priceless point of attack with which to batter teams into submission and keep pace in a relentless race with Manchester United for the title.
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In the Premiership alone there are seven other Ivorians, including Drogba’s quicksilver Chelsea teammate Salomon Kalou, Arsenal’s defensive duo of Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue – who have become the cornerstone of the Gunners’ defence – and Didier Zokora, the Tottenham midfielder who was one of the most talked about players at the 2006 World Cup.
In Ligue 1, Abdelkader Keita, Aruna Dindane and Bonaventure Kalou are the standouts of a group of Ivorians who have settled in well in French football, while Aruna Kone has been one of PSV Eindhoven’s best players since joining the Dutch outfit in 2005/06.
Even in Belgium there are a large number of Cote d’Ivoire nationals, with the likes of Bakary Soro and goalkeeper Boubacar Barry present.
And in Spain’s La Liga, Gneri Yaya Toure looks set to become a major star with Catalan giants Barcelona, who have been in dire need of an anchor midfielder to provide some balance in a team that often sacrifices defensive solidity for all out attack.
Throw in the likes of Werder Bremen’s Boubacar Sanogo and Arthur Boka from Stuttgart in the German Bundesliga, as well as Marc Zoro at Benfica and it becomes clear that coach Uli Stielike has the luxury of picking from a wider group of European-based players than any other African national team coach.
And it is this wide range of players, skills and experience in leagues of differing styles that makes the Elephants the most balanced, versatile and adaptable national team on the continent.
For that reason they must be rated as one of, if not the outright favourites for glory in Ghana next February.
