PUMA INTERVIEWS SOME OF AFRICA’S BIGGEST STARS PT2: COTE-D’IVOIRE

Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

Do you think Ivory Coast will win the Africa Cup of Nations?
I don’t know if we can win the Africa Cup of Nations – I hope so but there are a lot of good teams who will try to stop us.

What do you think about the Africa Unity Kit?
The Africa Unity kit is a good thing as its message of a united Africa is very important as you can see by the way we supported Togo. The kit means that all the African teams can wear one colour, which will help bring us together.

What does it mean for you to have the World Cup hosted by an African nation?
It means a lot for an African nation to host the World Cup as this is the first time. It’s going to be huge. African footballers are improving; there are a lot who now play for big European clubs and who are major players for those teams. I hope it’s going to be our party and an African team can win it.
When it comes to the World Cup, if we listen to the press then it will be Portugal and Brazil who will qualify not us. But we’ll do our best and see what we can do.

Emmanuel Eboué (Arsenal)

Do you think Ivory Coast will win Africa Cup of Nations?
Some people say this is our chance to win this Africa Cup of Nations, but it’s not going to be easy because when teams play against us they defend very well. That’s why when we played against Burkina Faso it was difficult for us to score.
We are so happy that Didier Drogba has been named African Player of the Year by BBC Sport. I’m proud to know him so well and it makes me very happy that he comes from Africa.
When I play against him for Arsenal, Drogba is very difficult to mark. He is so strong and quick and he can score every way. When I play against him he tries his best to score and I try to block him but he’s so strong. I pray to God for him because when I joined the Ivory Coast team he helped me settle in. He’s like my brother.
Playing for Ivory Coast is very good now. Not like it was before when everyone played for themselves on the pitch. Now we play together as a team and when we go out we all go together. We are a very close team.

What do you think Ivory Coast’s chances are in the World Cup?
How did I feel when we were drawn in the Group of Death in the World Cup? For us we are happy to play in this World Cup. It doesn’t matter if we play Brazil or Portugal or North Korea, we are just so happy to participate.
But some people forget if you qualify for the World Cup it’s not because we gave someone money it’s because we played very well. So why shouldn’t the Ivory Coast win the World Cup? If you play football and don’t believe then you should stop playing.
It will be very significant if an African team actually wins the World Cup. It will show to the world that in Africa we have some good players and some good teams.

What are your thoughts on the Togo incident?
We were very sorry about the Togo incident. Togo are close to Ivory Coast and we are like family. I pray for the families for their loss. When I saw my friend Adebayor I feel very sad for him. It makes you think ‘this could have happened to us too’. It makes me feel terrible. I thank God that the players are well but I’m so sorry that they lost two of their team.

What do you see in the future for Arsenal?
Can Arsenal win the league? Why not? As I’ve said before if you play football and stop believing you can win you have to stop playing. I’ve been at Arsenal a long time now and I’ve always believed in this team. If we can carry on playing as we are now then we can do it.

Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)

Do you think Ivory Coast will win Africa Cup of Nations?
For us the Africa Cup of Nations is great preparation for the World Cup as it can help build our confidence as a team. We have the players and the belief to go far.

What do you think about the Africa Unity Kit?
The Africa Unity Kit is a great thing. It shows the world that Africa can stand as one people. And if teams can help show the way for the rest of Africa then we will have achieved something very valuable. To be part of that is amazing.

Aruna Dindane (Portsmouth)

Do you think Ivory Coast will win Africa Cup of Nations?
We are the favourites for the Africa Cup of Nations but it’s difficult because there is so much good competition in Africa right now so we will try to do the best we can.
The Togo situation has made the tournament very complicated but what can we do? It’s difficult to play football after such a tragedy but we’ll try to do our best. We hope we’ll never see this sort of thing again but it’s been bad for Africa and bad for the tournament. I think we must now play to forget.