World Cup Draw Reaction : Cote d'Ivoire

Last Saturdays draw saw possible the worst outcome Cote D'Ivoire could have imagined. With with Group G opponents Brazil, Portugal and North Korea the football world has wasted no time in tagging this group the group of death and it seems Ivorien coach Vahid Halilhodzic agrees.

Speaking after the draw he lamented "To be honest it’s a terrible group. Very, very difficult. Brazil are second in the FIFA World Ranking and Portugal are fifth. It’s hard to imagine anything worse than that. Before the draw I said: “I’ll take anyone except Brazil or Spain.” I think a black cat must have followed me here in Cape Town."

"But there’s no point cursing our luck now. We’re here and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got. I know that my team are capable of springing a surprise, even against Brazil or Portugal. I even think that the fact we’re facing these teams could motivate my players more. I really hope that we can cause an upset."

It is the second straight Group of Death the Ivoriens have featured in. In the last World Cup in 2006 they were grouped with Argentina, Netherlands and Serbia & Montenegro in what was the 2006 World Cup Group of Death.