Africa Cup of Nations 2008, team profile:Ivory Coast

The Côte d’Ivoire national football team (sometimes written “Ivory Coast” in English), nicknamed Les Éléphants (The Elephants), is the national team of Côte d’Ivoire 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 de l’Amitie in Dakar, Senegal.

On October 8, 2005, they qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, marking their first appearance on the sport’s greatest stage. They were unable to qualify for the second round after losing to experienced teams such as Argentina and Netherlands in the so-called Group of death. They did manage to win one game in Germany, against Serbia and Montenegro, coming back from down 0-2 to win 3-2 on a late penalty kick by Bonaventure Kalou. Many observers of that years tournament said the team would have gone far, if they were not drawn in such a difficult group.

Ivory Coast team captain- Didier Drogba

TEAM BIO

Nickname: Les Éléphants(The Elephants)
Association: Fédération Ivoirienne de Football
Confederation: CAF (Africa)
Head coach: Gerard Gili
Captain: Didier Drogba
Most caps: Cyrille Domoraud & Bonaventure Kalou (51)
Top scorer: Didier Drogba (28)
Home stadium: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny
FIFA code: CIV
FIFA ranking: 37
Highest FIFA ranking: 18 (August 2006[1])
Lowest FIFA ranking: 75 (March 2004)
Elo ranking: 25
Highest Elo ranking: 20 (March, June 2007)
Lowest Elo ranking: 69 (October 1996)

Notable players- Kolo Toure(Arsenal)

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