Friday, 4 December 2009

England wary of Ivorian threat

England coach Fabio Capello and midfielder Frank Lampard have both singled out dark horses Ivory Coast as the team to avoid in today's World Cup group stage draw.

The African nation will be included in pot three alongside the other four qualifiers from the continent - Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon - and the three unseeded South American nations - Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.

It means one of the eight seeds, which include England, will face the dangerous west Africans in the first stage.

And Capello is keen to avoid the team that includes Chelsea strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou and the experienced Toure brothers, Kolo and Yaya, above any other potential opponents.

'I saw the Ivory Coast and they are a very strong team - I saw them play against Germany,' said Capello, who travelled to Gelsenkirchen for last month's friendly.

'They are one of the best teams in Africa.

'The spirit of this team is to go forward. Sometimes they have some problems when they have to defend, but all the players are really good technically and that's not easy to play against.'

Lampard also pointed to the Ivory Coast as a team he would prefer to avoid in the opening round, suggesting their presence would automatically make that group a likely candidate for the ubiquitous 'Group of Death' title.

'There's normally one Group of Death at every World Cup draw and I bet this one will be no different,' Lampard told the Sun newspaper.

'So while it's great to be seeded we could still draw Ivory Coast and then Portugal or France.

'That would be a Group of Death for sure. That would focus the mind all right.'

The draw for the group stage of the 2010 World Cup takes place in Cape Town, South Africa, beginning at 19:00 local time (17:00 GMT).ADNFCR-708-ID-19496579-ADNFCR

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