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.
This was the first appearance Ivory Coast were making after their failure to win the 2012 African cup of nations after making it into the finals. Ivory Coast could not win the African cup of nations, despite being ranked as the favourites to do so for many years now. They made it into the finals where they faced Zambia, who were clearly the underdogs in the match. Zambia managed to stun Ivory Coast by winning on penalties. In the match against Guinea, Ivory Coast were without the pair of Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou. There are also missing other Premier league players like Yaya Touré and Kolo Toure.
This was seen as a match for Ivory Coast to bring in a number of new players to the squad after the much hyped players like Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba have always failed to deliver for the national team. The Ivory Coast has been one of the top-rated African teams for more than seven years now, but they still have not achieved anything great in the world of international football. It has been 20 years since Ivory Coast last lifted a major trophy and the failure at the 2012 African cup of nations only adds to the misery.