The Elephants of Cote D'Ivoire Ready to Set the Tune Early in Brazil 2014 WORLD CUP!

The are 32 countries ready to compete for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil from June 12 through July 13. Among the 32 countries, five of them are representing the continent of Africa. They are Cote D'Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, and Algeria. All of whom had to qualify by participating in the qualification round. Here is how Cote D'Ivoire punched its ticket for the 2014 world cup in Brazil. 

The Elephant of Cote D'Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire easily made their way through the first stage of the qualifying round. Out of the six matches played, they won four games and draw two. That was enough for them to move on to the playoff stage. As they were matched up against their arch rival Senegal for a home and away game.The Ivorians' squad won the first leg at home in Abidjan by the score of 3-1. However, the 2nd leg which was played in Morocco became trickier, because the senegalese were one goal away from eliminating the Elephants on an away goals at 3-2 aggregate, nevertheless, Salomon Kalou's equalizer 

Salomon Kalou celebrating his goal against senegal in the 2nd leg

for the Ivorians in the 90th minutes was sufficient to punch the Elephants ticket to Brazil for their 3rd consecutive World Cup appearances. 

Salomon Kalou celebrating his goal against senegal in the 2nd leg

for the Ivorians in the 90th minutes was sufficient to punch the Elephants ticket to Brazil for their 3rd consecutive World Cup appearances. 

Despite, all the great talents on the Ivorians' national team, they have never been successful in getting out of the group stage of FIFA World Cup tournament. They have not also being lucky in the past World Cup draws, they have found themselves in groups that have always been regarded as the group of death. In another word, they have shared their group stage with great teams such as: Netherlands, Argentina, Serbia and Montenegro in 2006; and Brazil, Portugal, and South Korea in 2010. Maybe this World Cup would be different for the Elephants to make a leap to the quarter final, because they are in group C, that is considered well balance, and its includes Japan, Greece, and Colombia. Côte D'Ivoire have some of the best individual talents in Africa. 

Didier Drogba Celebrating Ivory Coast Equalizer against Senegal WC 2014.

All of whom are playing professional soccer on top Europeans' 1st division clubs. 

Drogba and Salomon Kalou are in top shape, and play well together. They are great goal scorers for the Ivorians' squad. Yaya Toure, the African player of the year is key to their offense. His ball winning ability and distribution skills in the middle of the field can be a matchup trouble for any defense. Gervinho on the left wing explosive moves can provide more spacing on the field for the center forward. Their defense is not as strong as it used to be, but they still have veterans like Kolo Toure and Didier Zokora to lead the defense at the back.  Many experts have Ivory Coast moving onto next stage. Below is the highlights and goals of their match against Senegal.