Group C looks to be one of the most evenly matched and unpredictable sections of Rio 2014, with a couple of good teams but none that look certain to dominate. Ivory Coast vs Japan presents a major opportunity for either team to make an excellent start to their tournament, if they can pick up all three points.
Of the two teams, Ivory Coast undoubtedly has the more elite group of players. Captain Didier Drogba, now 36 years old, is set to earn his 100th cap for his country and is surely entering his last international tournament in Brazil. Drogba has a habit of scoring when it’s needed most and, if ever there was a time to do it, it’s at the World Cup. With the likes of Solomon Kalou, Gervinho and Wilfried Bony also in the squad, Ivory Coast will have plenty of attacking options.
When talking about the Ivory Coast, it’s impossible to look past Yaya Touré, arguably the best midfielder in the Premiership this season, if not the world. Dominant in the middle of the park with the ability to get forward and score, he’s a one man game changer and a player that even the best teams would struggle to control at the moment.
Japan are coming off the back of an unconvincing 1-0 win against minnows Cyprus, though it’d be a mistake to compare a friendly to the actual tournament. They earned qualification by comfortably winning their Asian group and, with a couple of favourable results, there’s no reason that they can’t have some hope of making it to the knockout stages. To do so, however, they are going to have to get a result against either Ivory Coast or Colombia, neither of which is an easy prospect.
Ivory Coast have to be seen as the favourites for this match, and the odds reflect this even at such an early stage in betting. The energy of their first fixture is likely to produce a back and forth game, but the physicality of Ivory Coast and the creativity of their forwards should be enough to see them win.
–>>Match Prediction Ivory Coast to Win Either Halfs @bet365 1.83
