AFCON 2015 Preview: Ivory Coast V Guinea

IVORY COAST V GUINEA (Group D)
Nuevo Estadio de Malabo
Time: 4PM GMT, 11AM EST

The Ivory Coast and Guinea square off in the first match of Group D at 16:00 GMT at the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo. The Elephants of Ivory Coast have met the National Elephants of Guinea once in the Africa Cup of Nations, with the Ivorians thrashing Guinea 5-0 in 2008. The Ivorians who had been Africa’s highest ranked side until recently still boast of high profile names despite the retirement of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. Coach Renard would look to new Manchester City signing Wilfried Bony to hammer in the goals with four-time African Best Player Yaya Toure bolstering the midfield. Herve Renard was the man in charge of Zambia when the Chipolopolo infamously lifted the trophy after beating Ivory Coast in 2012 tournament, co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

IVORY COAST

• The Elephants have won the AFCON once in their history when they beat Ghana 11-10 on penalties in 1992.
• Ivory Coast have failed to lift the trophy despite being strong favourites in the last 5 editions, losing to Egypt and Zambia in the 2006 and 2012 finals.
• They are unbeaten in their last 11 group games in the competition, winning 9 of those.
• Currently 28^th in the FIFA World Rankings, the Ivorians are Africa’s third best team.
• The Elephants finished behind Cameroon in Group D of the qualifiers.

GUINEA

• Guinea have never won the AFCON in their history. They were runners-up behind Morocco in 1976, where the tournament was a Group Stage format.
• Guinea have not kept a clean sheet in their last 8 games in the competition.
• The National Elephants are currently 39^th in the latest FIFA World Rankings.
• Guinea qualified by virtue of being runners-up behind Ghana in Group E.
• Guinea will be without skipper Kamil Zayatte for this game after picking up a leg injury.

Ivory Coast are strong favourites for this clash after Yaya Toure was declared fit despite missing training as a precaution. The Ivorian scored six in his last eight games before turning up for the competition. However, Coach Renard is aware of the threat the National Elephants could pose with their fast-paced attack and will be setting up his team to counter the attack of their opponents.

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