Ivory Coast wasted a two-goal lead on Sunday to draw 2-2 with Paraguay in a friendly that marked coach Sven-Goran Eriksson’s first game in charge.
The Elephants controlled the game before Didier Drogba netted with a 54th-minute free kick that was deflected by the Paraguay wall and deceived goalkeeper Justo Villar.
“I was very happy with the first hour,” said Eriksson, who was appointed in March to lead Ivory Coast in South Africa. “I want to see a team which plays with each other and works as a unit. For one hour we did that. That’s very, very important.”
PHOTO: EPA
Drogba said the Swedish coach was having an effect after just one week working with the whole squad in the Swiss mountains.
“I think everybody understands the message the coach is trying to deliver,” Drogba said. “We’re still working and we still have some things to change.”
Substitute Soulemayne Bamba made it 2-0 in the 74th, arriving late at the far post to volley home a deep cross.
Paraguay substitute Lucas Barrios scored a minute later with a powerful low shot and Aureliano Torres then saw his free kick deflected into the Ivorians’ net in the 89th.
“We lost organization, we tried to run and finish individually,” Eriksson said. “We have to play better, but we will play better.”
Eriksson and Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino have until today to reduce their rosters from 30 to the final 23 going to South Africa.
“We have a lot of good footballers and it’s up to me to get them to work together,” said Eriksson, who took England to the quarterfinals at the past two World Cups.
Ivory Coast has been together less than half the time Paraguay’s been in camp, and it showed in the sloppy play early on.
French referee Wilfried Bien allowed several tough challenges before showing Paraguay’s Jorge Achucarro a yellow card for a slicing tackle on Yaya Toure.
Ivory Coast stepped up the pace, and Aruna Dindane placed a left-foot shot wide at the end of a surging run, after Drogba cleverly cleared space for him to exploit.
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