Cote D’Ivorie succumb to Greece 1-2 in 2014 Fifa World Cup

There was just one more moment of a speculative and very wild shot before the final whistle. The tears of both players and fans confirmed how one can trust Africans to mess things up in the least likely of match situation. No single shot on target for Cote D’Ivoire in the entire first half despite a few forays to their account just to give you an idea. They probed from left, right and centre but the final ball strayed, eluded the Africans or just stuck in the defence. On few occasions, The Elephants squandered possession and lacked the cutting ruthless edge when entering the enemy territory due to poor decision-making.

Greece slowed things down as they nursed and eventually lost two men due to injury. Those moments were enough to disrupt the rhythm of Didier Drogba and company. Their porous defence began to gel and kept tight in key moments.

The key moment of the half, came when a simple looking situation brought pressure to Cote D’Ivoire. Deep in defence on the right, Aurier played the ball to Tiote in central midfield position. Tiote touched the ball for Koloe Toure, but the pass was too short. Samaras stole the ball creating a two versus one situation as he played the ball to Samaris. That swift move attracted Barry out of his goal line but Samaris kept calm and fired the ball over the body of the slanting goalkeeper who tried to make himself large and narrow the angle.

The Elephants of Africa started the second half stronger with opportunities to restore parity, but like in the earlier half, the midfield stayed too much behind to pick up the second ball when strikers ran into defenders. The Greeks utilised winning the loose ball to mount very threatening counter attacks.  The midfield remained stuck at the back when the team attacked and stuck upfront without tracking their opponents.

Greece defenders started to feel the heat as the Africans turned on the gas. They launched their attacks well due to the large numbers of Ivorians thrown forward in search of the elusive equaliser. They created the clearer of the opportunities of the match, hitting the crossbar with thunderous shots twice with the goalkeeper beaten.

Cometh the moment, cometh the man. Bony Wilfreid came in for Tiote and caused anxious moments for the Greek defence. Salmon Kalou picked up a ball in midfield and quickly fed Gervinho on the left side of the penalty box. The speedy winger played the ball square to Bony who stabbed a side-footed ball home. They were caught flat-footed, as they looked comfortable on the way forward. Their marking was extremely bad as three men could not intercept the ball or close down on Gervinho.

The failure in match management resulted in a freak penalty after Yaya Toure missed a clearer chance in a four versus two in the penalty box. From that situation, Greece attacked from the left wing and delivered a cross into the penalty spot. In an attempt to shoot at goal, Georgio Samaras’ foot hooked a defender’s leg and he tumbled to the ground. The referee had no hesitation but point to the white spot. The Greek picked up his frame and dusted himself before sending his spot kick to the right bottom corner of the net, despite the fair attempt by the diving Barry.

Naïve piece of football.

Greece and Japan draw 0-0

Greece and Japan drew 0-0 in the 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup. to afford Cote D'Ivoire a better chance after the Elephants last the initiative in their match earlier on with that 2-1 to Columbia. There were real threats from both sides, missed chances and good saves.

The teams neutralised each other in many in midfield as they tried to pry open each other. They moved forward with pace and supported play going forward and retracted quickly to cover their tracks and deny spaces against attack.

The obvious fear to mess things up was there for all to see. The loser of the match could have been packing by the end of the match, but both teams were not will to risk anything.

Columbia beat Cote D’ Ivoire 2-1 in 2014 Fifa World Cup

The match began balanced at a fast pace. Columbia counter-attacked after winning balls in midfield as Cote D’Ivoire carelessly lost possession. They very easily found spaces in the middle of the park and attacked the right flank with pace. They missed the best chance when Rodriguez fed Gutierrez from the right after the South Americans played a diagonal ball on stealing possession in their own half.

The Africans defence cleared the crosses from either wing efficiently. That was a bad sign of poor defensive behaviour as their wing backs failed to shut out the crosses. The wing defenders pushed too much up field and played in front of the ball. This exposed the spaces behind them and the Columbians exploited these spaces reasonably well by dropping long diagonal passes that stretched the central defence.

The distance between the midfield and the defence also increased the susceptibility to counter-attacks. Yaya Toure played too much in front of the action as much of the game was played behind him, nullifying his trademark runs from deep towards goal. As Cote D’Ivoire found spaces in their slow attacks, they squandered possession easily by atrocious decision-making. Ball retention was not at its best for both teams who appeared to be too cagey in their approach.

The match pace stepped up in the second half as Columbia sought to capitalise on the indecisive defensive shape of the Cote D’Ivoire who had their wing defenders up high and the central defenders playing far apart. In one swift move by Columbia, the two clashed and caused a corner kick. Rodriguez was unmarked and powered his free-header past a static Barry. There was no man-marking, no jumping and no pressure by the defence who were content ball-watching.

Prior to the goal, Bony Wilfred missed a gilt-edged opportunity that was followed by a clearer goal-scoring chance. As The Elephants pressed hard for looking parity, and got caught by a counter assisted by naïve defending. Serie Die was almost the last man in defence but tried a dribble. He lost the ball to Gutierrez who was stalking him. The Columbian raced towards goal creating a three versus one, and then unselfishly passed the ball to his right to Quintero who made no mistake.

Yaya Toure moved to his normal position and began to dictate the game. The impact was instant and visible as he tried to feed Didier Drogba, Gervinho and Salomon Kalou. The only moment The Elephants shifted a little faster on the right after winning the ball. Gervinho received the ball and quickly took off charging goal ward. He swept past four defenders and fired a parried shot into the net. The South American rear guard froze as the nibble-footed striker waltzed past them for a beautiful goal.

Despite the beauty of the show, the lack of discipline of the strategy; the tactical awareness, it was a bitter pill to swallow as Cote D’Ivoire carried the hopes of the continent after the disaster of that Cameroon embarrassment.