Ivory Coast: Like a tale from A Thousand And One Nights

The festivities continued for two full days in the Ivory Coast, when the first ever qualification for a football World Cup was confirmed on October 8, 2005. In the capital Abidjan, people exuberantly celebrated the “Miracle of Omdurman”, the successful qualification which was not thought possible on the last day of competition in Africa’s Group Three. Traffic came to a standstill everywhere, as national flags fluttered from most rooftops. A unique roller-coaster of joy signalled the day’s fairytale ending.

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The first World Cup participation of the West African country is inseparably linked with four names: Henri Michel, Didier Drogba, Aruna Dindane and Pierre Wome. Although the latter has nothing to do with the Ivory Coast national team, the 26-year-old leftside defender of Inter Milan nevertheless played the main role in the unfolding drama. The hot favourite in the group, Cameroon, a five-time World Cup finals participant and the best-placed African team in the FIFA World Rankings (23rd in October 2005), held all the trump cards going into the final competition day. A win at home against Egypt would have assured a World Cup ticket. At 1-1, and in the fourth minute of overtime, the “indomitable lions” were awarded a hotly disputed penalty. Wome hit the post – and Cameroon was out.

And the Ivory Coast was in. Their 3-1 victory at Omdurman in Sudan meant qualification at the last gasp for the green-white-orange heroes. For a long time the surprisingly strong Ivory Coast seemed to have an easy run in the qualification. The team that won the African Championship only once (1992), and even failed to qualify for the 2004 African Nations Cup in Tunisia, had a four-point advantage over Cameroon after the sixth of 10 matches. But three successive wins by Cameroon closed the gap. On the penultimate competition day the Ivory Coast could have sealed their success with a victory over Cameroonat home. But at the final whistle a “Doomsday” mood prevailed among the 35,000 fans at Abidjan’s “Felicia” National Stadium. Cameroon won 3-2 thanks to three goals from Achille Webo (CA Osasuna), and needed just the win at home.

Nobody was willing to bet a penny at that juncture on the Ivory Coast. The “Devine Qualification”, as it is now referred to in the former French colony, was not believed possible. Until 1999, the Ivory Coast was considered the political and economic model country of the continent. Following the independence from France in 1960, the export of ivory, cocoa and bananas brought the 17 million inhabitants relative prosperity. But with the world-wide cocoa crisis in 1999 came unrest. There were bloody quarrels between the government, military and rebels causing the United Nations in 2003 to station 6,000 Blue Bereted soldiers in the country. “By their victory the players want to set a marker for a peaceful new beginning for our country. This success must get us together again”, said Jacques Anouma, the President of the Football Association of the Ivory Coast, with reference to the threatening civil war. President Laurent Gbagbo proved generous and appointed all international players “Knights of the Order of Merit”. An additional present was a villa for every player.

The architect of the triumph remained modestly in the background. “The real heroes are the players.Now they must have the opportunity to let themselves be feted by their people”, declared national coach Henri Michel. The 57-year-old Frenchman, a World Cup participant as a player in 1978, and 1986 bronze medallist with France as a coach, knows African football very well. In 1994 he led Cameroon to the World Cup finals, four years later Morocco. The smart and determined coach formed within two years of his appointment in 2004, a first-class Ivory Coast team from a collection of excellent individual players.

There are many internationally-known players in the team, headed by strikers Didier Drogba and Aruna Dindane, who together scored 16 of the 20 goals in the qualifiers. Drogba, 27, who moved from Olympique Marseille to Chelsea FC for 36 million Euro in 2004, is the undisputed leading personality. Together with Dindane (24, RC Lens) he forms one of the best attacking duos in the world. Both live off the expert passing from top midfielder Bonaventure Kalou (27, Paris St. Germain). Habib Kolo Touré, 24, and Emmanuel Eboué, 22, both of Arsenal FC, team captain Cyril Domoraud (34, US Creteil) and Arthur Boka (22, Racing Strasbourg) are the defending block. Regular goalkeeper is Jean-Jacques Tizié, 32, of Esperance Tunis, who was desperately missed through injury in the last two qualifiers.

On the whole, Michel has a very young, enthusiastic team which at times is guilty of neglecting tactical discipline when feverishly desperate to attack. Just five players in the squad are older than 27. From the German Bundesliga players, Guy Demel, 24, of Hamburger SV harbours hopes of being nominated for the World Cup. He played in three qualifiers. Kaiserslautern’s striker Boubacar Sanogo, 22, is also on the fringe.

The Ivory Coast will certainly travel to the 2006 FIFA World Cup as an outsider. But the team have a lot of entertaining potential. And Guy Demel’s statement sounds like a battle cry to the established football teams: “We don’t come as tourists!”