With Ivory Coast already having secured top spot in Group D, and Algeria doomed to an early exit from this year’s competition, this Wednesday’s clash may seem like something of a dead rubber.
Victories over Togo and Tunisia mean the Elephants must only avoid a heavy defeat in order to progress from Group D, and such an outcome is difficult to imagine after Algeria lost both of their opening games in the group.
However, Sabri Lamouchi’s promise to use the game as an opportunity to give some of the younger players a chance of adding some extra intrigue, while their opponents will certainly not want to return home after three straight defeats.
“We in the national team of Ivory Coast… are happy for him,” he said. “It will be good for him to play at a high level.”
Drogba was a substitute in the 3-0 win over Tunisia, but with Lamouchi having the luxury of being able to rotate his squad he could come back into the reckoning.
Algerian’s are in full post-mortem mode after a 2-0 loss to Togo ended their hopes of progression from the group.
“Just a quick note to apologise to all the Algerian people around the world and even more to those who were present in South Africa,” he wrote.
“We really tried everything to put this Togo team in trouble and I think we had opportunities to score the first goal that would have made the difference.”
Coach Vahid Halilhodzic has been criticised by his predecessor Rabah Saadane, who claimed he had rushed the transition to the next generation of players by picking too young a squad for the tournament.
Kick off: 19:00-17:00pm.
At : Rustenburg.
Date : Wednesday 30 January, 2013.
Cote d’ Ivoire starting lineup:
Mbolhi, Belkalem,
Ghoulam, Mesbah,
Tedjar, Lacen,
Kadir, Boudebouz,
Aoudi, Soudani, Slimani.
Algeria starting lineup:
Copa, K.Toure,
I.Traore, Lolo,
Boka, Y.Konan,
Razak, Bony,
Romaric, L.Traore, A.Kone.
Read also:
http://en.africatopsports.com/2013/01/29/transfer-talk-galatasaray-confirm-drogba-deal