Henri Michel's 'Elephants' of the Côte d'Ivoire have qualified for their first-ever World Cup Finals, defying the odds to book a place in Germany 2006.

Following the draw for the qualifiers, no-one held out much hope for the Ivorians, such was the formidable opposition in their African Zone qualification group in the form of Cameroon, Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Benin.

Having been pitted against Cameroon, who have had five World Cup appearances, and Egypt, who have qualified twice, the Elephants' – who's solitary award to date is the African Cup of Nations' title achieved in Senegal in 1992 – chances of qualification seemed slim.

The underdogs nevertheless got off to a flying start, managing four wins and only one defeat in their opening five matches, the highlight being their 2-1 victory over Egypt in Cairo.

The Elephants embarked on the second half of the qualifiers as leaders of Group 3 and brushed Benin aside in an emphatic 3-0 home victory. They faltered somewhat in their next match, managing only a 0-0 draw against Libya in Tripoli.

Meanwhile Cameroon, whose pride had taken a battering, set out to win their five remaining fixtures and managed to claw back most of the deficit before Cameroon's head-to-head encounter with the Ivorians in Abidjan.

The Côte d'Ivoire went into the match just needing a draw to qualify, but the Indomitable Lions pulled off a 3-2 victory and took over top spot in the Group 3 with only one match to play and with Cameroon needing a win to be sure of qualification.

This is when what the Ivorian's like to call the 'Miracle of Omdurman' occurred, where Côte d'Ivoire recorded a 3-1 victory away to Sudan, while Cameroon were held to a 1-1 draw by Egypt in Yaounde, with the Ivory Coast taking advantage of a missed Cameroon penalty against Egypt on the final day of qualifying to book their place in their first-ever World Cup Finals.

The Ivorians then made it to the finals of the African Cup of Nations in Egypt, where they were beaten by the hosts in the final, but gave a chance for Michel's team to show off their talents.

Côte d'Ivoire owe their qualification for Germany to an exceptional generation of footballers who for the most part served their apprenticeship at the football academy set up by Jean-Marc Guillou just outside the Ivorian Capital, Abidjan.

Aruna Dindane, Kolo Toure, Didier Zokora, Arthur Boka, Blaise Kouassi and Barry Copa all attended Guillou's academy and formed the nucleus of the side in its successful qualifying campaign.

What the Ivorian players lack in experience, they more than make up for in determination, making them a real threat at the Finals.

Goalkeeper Jean-Jacques Tizie, who had an excellent African Cup of Nations tournament, has plenty of experience between the sticks, and will have Boubacar Barry and Stephan Loboue from German club side SC Paderborn to back him up.

Defensively, the Côte d'Ivoire are very strong. Arthur Boka from Racing Strasbourg, Blaise Kossi Kouassi from Troyes and Abdoulaye Meite from Olympique Marseille who all play in France, along with the Arsenal duo of Emmanuel Eboue and the hugely experienced Kolo Toure all forming a very tight defensive unit.

Midfield are also mostly French-based and include Kanga Akale from Auxerre, Emerse Fae from Nantes, Tchiressoa Guel from Lorient, Le Mans' Christian Koffi Ndri and St Etienne playmaker Didier Zokora, will be joined by Gneri Yaya Toure from Greek side Olympiakos, along with possibly Christian Manfredini from Serie A side Lazio, who was recently called up for their March friendly against Spain by coach Henri Michel, in which Spain narrowly beat the Elephants 3-2.

The 30-year-old left-footed midfielder was born in the Ivory Coast but was adopted by an Italian family at the age of five, and apart from a brief spell at Spanish side Osasuna in the 02/03 season, has spent his entire playing career in Italy.

Manfredini had previously rejected calls from the Ivory Coast to play for them, but now, with the opportunity to play in the World Cup Finals, the Lazio man has jumped at the chance and is likely to feature.

Captain Bonaventure Kalou from Paris St Germain leads their potent strike-force, with Chelsea's Didier Drogba - currently on blistering form for the Premiership champions - being joined by Arouna Koné from PSV Eindhoven and Bakary Kone, Abdelkader Keita and Kandia Traore, who all play in France’s Championnat, with Keita and Kandia Traore now staking their claim for a place in the World Cup squad for the Finals in Germany after having missed the African Cup of Nations.

Henri Michel has done well with this team since taking over from Robert Nouzarat in 2004, although sometimes the team does lose focus and allow a quick strike late in the game as they did against Cameroon in the qualifying stages, a blunder that nearly cost them a berth in Germany.

The Côte d'Ivoire will still be an unknown quantity when they arrive in Germany this summer, which may end up working to their advantage. Although, having their biggest stars playing on the biggest stages in Europe will mean that the players will not be overawed.

It will be a struggle for the Ivorian's to advance from Group C – nicknamed the 'Group of Death' – where they have been drawn alongside Argentina, the Netherlands and Serbia & Montenegro, but no one has put any expectations on them, and this lack of pressure can often lead to a team playing better football.

If Henri Michel's team manage to progress out of Group C, the rest of the qualifying nations need to look out because on their day, the Elephants can be prove to be a match for any team.

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Ivory Coast Match Fixtures in the World Cup 2006 Finals

10-Jun-06	Argentina v Côte d'Ivoire	21:00 BST
16-Jun-06	Holland v Côte d'Ivoire	18:00 BST
21-Jun-06	Côte d'Ivoire v Serbia & Montenegro	21:00 BST

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Historic Facts

First International appearance: Côte d'Ivoire 3 - 2 Benin (Madagascar; 13 April 1960)

Largest win: Côte d'Ivoire 6 - 0 Mali (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 13 March 1985)
Largest win: Côte d'Ivoire 6 - 0 Botswana (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 11 October 1992)
Largest win: Côte d'Ivoire 6 - 0 Niger (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 15 July 2000)
Largest win: Côte d'Ivoire 6 - 0 Madagascar (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 1 July 2001)

Worst defeat: Côte d'Ivoire 2 - 6 Ghana (Côte d'Ivoire; 2 May 1971)

World Cup Finals Appearances: Debut appearance in the World Cup 2006!

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Ivory Coast Match Results - Africa World Cup Qualifiers Group 3

Date	Match	Result
08-Oct-2005	Sudan - Côte d'Ivoire	1:3 (0:1)
04-Sep-2005	Côte d'Ivoire - Cameroon	2:3 (1:2)
19-Jun-2005	Côte d'Ivoire - Egypt	2:0 (1:0)
03-Jun-2005	Libya - Côte d'Ivoire	0:0
27-Mar-2005	Côte d'Ivoire - Benin	3:0 (2:0)
10-Oct-2004	Benin - Côte d'Ivoire	0:1 (0:0)
05-Sep-2004	Côte d'Ivoire - Sudan	5:0 (3:0)
04-Jul-2004	Cameroon - Côte d'Ivoire	2:0 (0:0)
20-Jun-2004	Egypt - Côte d'Ivoire	1:2 (0:1)
06-Jun-2004	Côte d'Ivoire - Libya	2:0 (1:0)

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