Making the next round of the World Cup in Brazil probably isn’t the biggest thing on the Ivory Coast’s plate right now as two of their players are dealing with a personal tragedy. They could be out for Tuesday’s Group C finale against Greece, who probably aren’t good enough to capitalize even if those players aren’t there for the Ivorians.
World Cup Odds: Ivory Coast +105, Greece +275, Draw +245
Why Greece Can Win
It is tough to think of any reasons why Greece can win this match. Outside of Honduras and maybe Cameroon, no team has looked worse at the World Cup than the Greeks, who haven’t scored a goal in this tournament after drawing 0-0 with Japan. Ironically enough, the Greeks gave their best attacking effort of the tournament after Konstantinos Katsouranis was sent off for two yellow cards after 38 minutes.
Greece can only win if they throw caution to the wind and go at the Ivorians, who have allowed three goals in the first two games and have shown that they can be exposed. The Greeks have nothing to lose and they can’t even worry about going through to the next round; that probably won’t happen. They just have to give a good performance because they have looked utterly terrible so far in the World Cup.
Why Ivory Coast Can Win
The Ivory Coast is still in control of their World Cup fate after losing 2-1 to Colombia, but there are bigger things to worry about as Yaya and Kolo Toure could leave the team after the death of their younger brother, Ibrahim. Yaya hasn’t played his best yet, although we have seen glimpses of the player that has driven Manchester City to two Premier League titles in the last three seasons. Kolo hasn’t played a minute, but as one of the older players, he provides leadership to the younger defenders. If these two can’t play, the team should choose to use this as a rallying point and play for the memory of the youngest Toure.
Even without the Toure brothers, the Ivorians have enough to win this game, but they have to start Didier Drogba from the beginning of the game instead of bringing him on later. Even though Drogba is well past his best, teams defend the Ivory Coast in a much different matter when he is on the pitch, and all three of the goals they have scored in the World Cup have come after he has been subbed on. The Ivorians can’t afford to go behind again.
Outlook
This will be the first-ever meeting between the Ivory Coast and Greece, and the Ivorians should still have enough to get the draw they need to get through the group. Greece just doesn’t have the attacking mentality that they need, and even if they did, they don’t have the quality to erase a huge goal difference. With this draw, the Ivory Coast will go to the knockout stage for the first time in three World Cup tries.
Pick: Draw
