The Ivory Coast international striker Arouna Kone has said that he is extremely happy to join a club like Wigan. There have been many clubs interested in the signature of the highly rated player.

The Ivory Coast recently appointed Sabri Lamouchi as their new manager and the replacement for Francois Zahoui, who was sacked only a few weeks ago.

Sabri Lamouchi comes with the necessity to prove himself as a manager given that he retired from his playing career only recently. Sabri Lamouchi does not have an experience of managing a team at any level. As a result, he has said that there will be some animosity towards him in the first few matches, and it is up to him to prove that he has the capability to stand up to the job.

Manchester city midfielder Yaya Touré has said that he would like to play for the different team in the near future. Manchester City signed the Ivory Coast international from Barcelona for around £ 24 million a few seasons ago.

Ivory Coast could not get past a difficult Guinea side after they were held to a 0-0 draw in the recent friendly match.

One of the main absentees for Ivory Coast was Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. Didier Drogba was injured in the 3-0 win over Bolton during the weekend.

Hence, he was not part of the Ivory Coast that was playing Guinea in the friendly match. Without the presence of the powerful frontman, who has been part of the Ivory Coast attack for many years now, the national team struggled to create any major chances in the match.

Ivory Coast are certainly one of the favourites to win the 2012 African cup of nations. They did no harm to their favourite tag after they secured the quarterfinals place following a 2-0 win over Burkina Faso.