Argentina vs. Ivory Coast [R]

[Simorgh]

2-1 to Argentina.

BEST game of the WC 2006 so far. Who's with me?

Ivory Coast pretty much pwned Argentina though. Too bad they didnt have good finishers to take care of some goals for them.

[payamtorgoley]

Man, I was cheering for Ivory Coast!! I wish they would have won, but they couldn't put away the numerous chances they had, nor did they play with enough of a sense of urgency at the end. It seems they rely a whole lot on Drogba up front to carry them. Hope they can beat Holland and Serbia.

[headcounciluta]

I remembered today why I hate Argentina. Ivory Coast deserved that game and the second goal was really unfair.

[ShirFarhad]

Indeed, what a great match. Although I knew IC is a good team I thought Ivory Coast was overrated but this match changed my opinion.

I don't think Holland or Serbia will have a chance against them if they play like today.

[RistonBarreto]

Ivory Coast outplayed Argentina in the first 15 minutes and conceded the 2 goals through mental lapses (Saviola's goal looked offsides)....Argentina was boring and I don't find their style as pleasing as the usual Latin style. They resorted to over-passing and time wasting after the first half goals (understandable). IC came back and dominated in the second half, Drogba was definetly fouled in the box and deserved a PK. I don't like the Ivory Coast attacking midfield, poor crossing and they have no good free-kick takers. I think they are better than the Netherlands who have injury concerns and definitely better than all-defense Serbia & Montenegro.

[Mansoor]

Amazing match to watch. IV's speed would take Holland's down. If IV plays like this, expect to see them advancing unless they get unlucky again. Holland is gonna play a speedy game, and with IV's similar style, we may see the fastest game ever in WC!

The only bad news is we may meet them if we advance! ouch ...

[soniq]

i was an IV fan in this game and i gotta say the missed some good chances, and Argentina too, Drogba was giving it a 100%, it was a beautiful game the ball went from one end to another, and i loved how the fans booed argentina and whistled them near the end of the game, the fans loved IV

[milad]

i predicted 1-1 with drogba and saviola scoring. if that lucky argentine tap in didnt happen i would be 100% right! ivory deserved at least 1 point because they played a little better and had more chances.

[gol_kuchik]

I had IV and Aregentina advancing from this group but expected this game
to end in a draw. Oh well. BTW, this is the first game so far when the team
with less ball possession (Argentina) won the game!

[gol_kuchik]

Amazing match to watch. IV's speed would take Holland's down. If IV plays like this, expect to see them advancing unless they get unlucky again. Holland is gonna play a speedy game, and with IV's similar style, we may see the fastest game ever in WC!
The only bad news is we may meet them if we advance! ouch ...

Between you and I, I had Iran lose to IV in second round. But may be
IV can't hold their end of the bargain. BTW, don't underestimate Serbia.

[princeofpersia1]

Great Game , Best Game i've seen in the last year

[yashar_fasihnia]

I remembered today why I hate Argentina. Ivory Coast deserved that game and the second goal was really unfair.

argentina's first goal (ayala's header) was also a deserved goal, the replay's clearly showed it crossed the line.

[yashar_fasihnia]

Ivory Coast outplayed Argentina in the first 15 minutes and conceded the 2 goals through mental lapses (Saviola's goal looked offsides)....Argentina was boring and I don't find their style as pleasing as the usual Latin style. They resorted to over-passing and time wasting after the first half goals (understandable). IC came back and dominated in the second half, Drogba was definetly fouled in the box and deserved a PK. I don't like the Ivory Coast attacking midfield, poor crossing and they have no good free-kick takers. I think they are better than the Netherlands who have injury concerns and definitely better than all-defense Serbia & Montenegro.

replays clearly showed saviola's goal was not offside AT ALL! both after the goal, and after the game!

infact, that was the most amazing pass i had ever seen, with just 1 pass by riquelme, 6 ivory coast defenders(2 midfields & 4 defenders) "ja mundan" and saviola had a brilliant run!

[yashar_fasihnia]

Amazing match to watch. IV's speed would take Holland's down. If IV plays like this, expect to see them advancing unless they get unlucky again. Holland is gonna play a speedy game, and with IV's similar style, we may see the fastest game ever in WC!
The only bad news is we may meet them if we advance! ouch ...

ivory coast didnt seem a speedy team to me.
they had individual players who had good speed like keita (#18) or their #3 that shorty (bako?), but their team speed was slow.

they relied more on physical superiority and tried to give most of their passes to drogba.

i think argentina is one of the speediest teams in the worldcup, they have both indivual speed and team speed, and i think argentina - netherlands game will be a real speedy one!

but i agree, ivory coast showed they can handle worldclass teams like argentina who so far i think has been the best candidate for winning the worldcup. its sad such a good team has to fall in a group with serbia, holland and argentina while a team like TOGO(whose coach resigned today! can u believe it 2 or 3 days before their first game against korea!) has to play korea, switzerland and spain, all of whom are beatable by ivory coast!

[yashar_fasihnia]

i predicted 1-1 with drogba and saviola scoring. if that lucky argentine tap in didnt happen i would be 100% right! ivory deserved at least 1 point because they played a little better and had more chances.

i think argentina deserved the win, however, ivory coast did deserve atleast 1goal and a 2-1 scoreline was quite fair to me. argentina was the more dominant team until the 65th minute or so when peckerman started subbing out his main players(started with crespo) and brought in young substitutes to give them experience. and with ivory coast trailing 2-0, ivory coast had no option but attack. however, i still agree, they handled argentina very well and they can make it through if they are a bit lucky against holland!