Côte d'Ivoire national team coach, Sven Goran Eriksson admitted his team was in the hard group in 2010 World Cup. But he sure could reach at least the runner-up position, so that could qualify for the next round.
Côte d'Ivoire is in Group G along with Brazil, Portugal, and North Korea. For Eriksson, meet Portugal is quite emotional, when dealing with England, his team is always defeated Portugal in the European Cup in 2004 and 2006 World Cup on penalties.
"The first match versus Portugal is important to us. I am waiting it, but first we must make a good preparations. There is no sense of revenge. Inevitably, there will be no penalties again," revealed Eriksson.
"Theoretically, Brazil is the favorite to become the champion and the group runners-up position will be a bone of contention of Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal, or North Korea. But, it's theoretical," he added.
Eriksson remains optimistic that the squad can achieve the 2010 World Cup quarter-final.
"If we can reach the quarter-finals, I think everyone will think this is a great success of the team of African origin. This is our main target," he said.
In this qualification group stage, only the first and second order are eligible to pass to the next round. "I do not know whether the third ranked order for this team is a failure or not. But, I do not think about it. We must fight and believe that we were able to get through this group and get the results even further, of course," he explain his determination.
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