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World Cup - Ivory Coast

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Côte d'Ivoire reach the promised land.

Like Senegal and China at Korea/Japan 2002 and Jamaica before them at France 98, the Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire will be one of the major novelties at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, where they will take their bow on football's greatest stage.

Following the draw for the qualifiers, no-one held out much hope for the Ivorians, such was the formidable opposition in their group in the form of Cameroon, Egypt, Sudan and Libya. Set against Cameroon's five appearances and Egypt's two appearances in the FIFA World Cup finals, the Elephants' solitary CAF African Cup of Nations' title achieved in Senegal in 1992 paled into insignificance. The Ivorians had even failed to qualify for the last Nations Cup in Tunisia.

The underdogs nevertheless got off to a flying start, registering four wins and only one defeat in their opening five matches, the highlight being their 2-1 victory over Egypt in Cairo. The build-up to this crucial encounter was marred by the death of their assistant coach Mama Ouattara, who collapsed during a training session. A mourning squad vowed to secure qualification by way of honouring his memory.

The Elephants embarked on the second half of the qualifiers as leaders of Group 3 and brushed Benin aside in an emphatic 3-0 home victory. They faltered somewhat in their next match, managing only a 0-0 draw against Libya in Tripoli. Cameroon, whose pride had taken a battering, set out to win their five remaining fixtures and managed to claw back most of the deficit before their head-to-head encounter with the Ivorians in Abidjan.

Read more at: FIFA World Cup - Yahoo!