Ivory Coast’s Elephants Still Live In Hope

Ivory Coast defender, Kolo Toure insists they still have not yet given up hope of qualifying for the knockout stages despite losing to Brazil in their last match and still being without a win in  a difficult Group G.

Ivory Coast will pin their hopes on beating Korea DPR in the last group match and hope that Brazil, who have already qualified get them a favourable result when they play Portugal.

The Manchester City skipper first admitted that experience played a vital role when the Brazilians beat them.

“We were beaten by a team that is the best in the world. We tried our best in this match but it was always going to be difficult against a team that has won the World Cup five times before and has that experience of always being at the finals,” Toure told newsmen after the match.

“We obviously still feel that we have a chance and hope that luck will help us go through to the next round. We know that we have now put ourselves in a difficult situation, but we still have hope that North Korea and Portugal draw in their match. But for now we are disappointed about our result against Brazil.

“Early in the game we had chances but we did not take them and when you are playing Brazil, you must make the most of every chance you get otherwise you will be punished which is what happened with us.

Referring to Luis Fabiano’s second goal which appeared to be a hand ball, Toure said, “The problem is that the referee asked the player (Fabiano) if he had touched the ball. How can a referee ask a player if he committed a foul?”

Ivory Coast defender, Kolo Toure insists they still have not yet given up hope of qualifying for the knockout stages despite losing to Brazil in their last match and still being without a win in  a difficult Group G

Ivory Coast will pin their hopes on beating Korea DPR in the last group match and hope that Brazil, who have already qualified get them a favourable result when they play Portugal.

The Manchester City skipper first admitted that experience played a vital role when the Brazilians beat them.

“We were beaten by a team that is the best in the world. We tried our best in this match but it was always going to be difficult against a team that has won the World Cup five times before and has that experience of always being at the finals,” Toure told newsmen after the match.

“We obviously still feel that we have a chance and hope that luck will help us go through to the next round. We know that we have now put ourselves in a difficult situation, but we still have hope that North Korea and Portugal draw in their match. But for now we are disappointed about our result against Brazil.

“Early in the game we had chances but we did not take them and when you are playing Brazil, you must make the most of every chance you get otherwise you will be punished which is what happened with us.

Referring to Luis Fabiano’s second goal which appeared to be a hand ball, Toure said, “The problem is that the referee asked the player (Fabiano) if he had touched the ball. How can a referee ask a player if he committed a foul?”