Côte d'IvoireCôte d'Ivoire - National football team
The Côte d'Ivoire national football team (written as "Ivory Coast" in English), nicknamed Les Éléphants (The Elephants), represents Côte d'Ivoire in international football and is controlled by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football. Until 2005, their greatest accomplishment was winning the 1992 African Cup of Nations against Ghana on penalties at the Stade Leopold Senghor in Dakar, Senegal.
They have qualified for two World Cup finals, first in Germany in 2006, losing to Argentina and the Netherlands and beating Serbia and Montenegro as they failed to progress beyond the group stage. They qualified again for South Africa in 2010. Côte d'Ivoire qualified through a tough qualifying group which included African powerhouses Cameroon and Egypt, despite losing home and away to the former.
Côte d'Ivoire - VideoCôte d'Ivoire - NewsCôte d'Ivoire - National football team
On the last day of qualification, they confirmed their spot with a 3–1 win over Sudan, while Cameroon faltered and could only manage a 1–1 draw at home to Egypt.
Côte d'Ivoire lost their opening game 2–1 in the 2006 World Cup in Germany to an Argentine side. The goals for Argentina came from Hernán Crespo and Javier Saviola. Côte d'Ivoire's goal came from Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. They lost their second match to the Netherlands by the same scoreline and were thus eliminated from the tournament. The Netherlands' goals came from a Robin van Persie free-kick in the 23rd minute and a Ruud van Nistelrooy strike in the 27th minute. Bakari Koné scored in the 38th minute for the Africans to pull the score to 2–1. Côte d'Ivoire's final game was against Serbia and Montenegro. The Serbian team scored two quick goals and it appeared that the Côte d'Ivoire was destined for a three-loss World Cup campaign. However, the Africans came back, led by two goals from Aruna Dindane, and won the game 3–2 to finish in third place.
On 10 October 2009, Côte d'Ivoire secured a place at the 2010 World Cup after Didier Drogba struck within two minutes of coming on as a substitute to clinch a 1–1 draw with Malawi..
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PortugalPortugal - National football team
The Portuguese national football team is governed by the Portuguese Football Federation, finishing 4th at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The first appearance in the 1966 FIFA World Cup saw them reach the semifinal, losing 2–1 at Wembley to the eventual world champions England. Portugal finished in third place and Eusébio was considered the best player of the tournament. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were 1986 and 2002, with Portugal going out in the first round both times. In the 1986 tournament, players went on strike over prize-money and refused to train between their first and second games.
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Portugal - National football team
In 2003, the Portuguese Football Federation decided to hire Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian who had led the Brazil national football team to win the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Scolari led Portugal to the final of UEFA Euro 2004, where they lost to the Greek national team, and to their second World Cup semi-final in the 2006 World Cup. Scolari left after the Euro 2008 championships to manage Chelsea.Ex Man utd assistant coach Carlos Queiroz was appointed the new manager of Portugal in 2008, with whom Portugal qualified for the 2010 World Cup. Portugal participated in the qualifying stages with new manager Carlos Queiroz (who had already coached the team in older times), for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which is due to take place in South Africa. The team had a qualifying campaign that almost turned disastrous and just sneaked into second place by a single point over Sweden, a group where Denmark finished first, one point ahead from Portugal. Portugal was drawn to play against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the european zone play-offs. With two wins (1–0 in the first leg, in Lisbon; and 1–0, in Zenica), the team gained its right to participate in the World Cup. Having qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Selecção das Quinas had its most successful decade to date, having qualified for all the editions of the World Cup and Euro Cup (Euro 2000, World Cup 2002, Euro 2004, World Cup 2006, Euro 2008, and World Cup 2010), along with Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, the only other four teams to have done so.
In the Final Draw, on 4th December 2009, Portugal was drawn in one of the toughest groups, the so called Group of Death where the Selecção das Quinas will be facing 5-time champions Brazil, Africa's top contenders Côte d'Ivoire and 1966 opponents North Korea. The Group of Death will be one of the most exciting groups to see in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Portugal will first face Côte d'Ivoire on 15 June 2010 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, followed by North Korea on 21 June 2010 at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town and the last group match will be played against Brazil on 25 June 2010 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban..
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