One of the most eagerly anticipated FIFA World Cup 2010 Group matches kicks off this afternoon at 16:00 local time as Ivory Coast take on Portugal at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Table of Contents
Ivory Coast Starting XI
Boubacar Barry, Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure, Guy Demel, Siaka Tiene, Gervais Kouassi, Didier Zokora, Yaya Toure, Cheik Tiote, Salomon Kalou, Aruna Dindane
Portugal Starting XI
Eduardo, Paulo Ferreira, Bruno Alves, Ricardo Carvalho, Fabio Coentrao, Pedro Mendes, Raul Meireles, Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo, Danny, Liedson
Ivory Coast v Portugal Preview
No Didier Drogba for Ivory Coast is a huge blow for the African side, and it is one which means that they must hope to produce a goal.
Drogba is on the bench, however, so there is the possibility that the Chelsea forward will come on should his services be required, despite his broken arm.
Portugal have a lot of attacking flair, but are susceptible to conceding poor goals, as they have shown in recent tournaments, so it could be that they need more than one goal to win this Group G match today.
Prediction: 2-1 Portugal.