PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
2014 WC 1st-leg playoff: Drogba leads Cote d'Ivoire to 3-1 win over Senegal
Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Captain Didier Drogba, performing his first duty after returning to the Ivorian national team, Saturday led hosts Cote d'Ivoire to an emphatic 3-1 win over Senegal in the first-leg qualifying playoff for the 2014 World Cup finals, to be hosted by Brazil.
Interestingly, it was Drogba who scored first with a fifth-minute strike from the penalty spot before Senegalese player Lamine Sane scored an own goal to give the Ivorians a 2-0 lead until the interval.
Salomon Kalou made it 3-0 in the 50th minute but Papiss Cisse scored Senegal's consolation goal six minutes into added on time.
The second-leg will take place in Senegal 15-19 Nov.
Drogba was making his return for the first time since the country’s calamitous African Nations Cup finals performance at the start of the year.
The Ivorians were the runaway favourites in South Africa but were bundled out in the quarter-final by eventual winners, Nigeria.
Drogba, for so long a "talismanic" figure for the Elephants, was dropped for the first time during the tournament and coach Sabri Lamouchi then left him out of World Cup qualifiers in March and June, all the while deflecting speculation of a rift with his captain by claiming that the 35-year-old needed to work on his fitness.
Drogba, still hoping to make a third successive World Cup finals appearance in Brazil next year, looked sharp at the weekend in helping Galatasaray win a pre-season mini-tournament at Arsenal.
-0- PANA VAO 12Oct2013
Interestingly, it was Drogba who scored first with a fifth-minute strike from the penalty spot before Senegalese player Lamine Sane scored an own goal to give the Ivorians a 2-0 lead until the interval.
Salomon Kalou made it 3-0 in the 50th minute but Papiss Cisse scored Senegal's consolation goal six minutes into added on time.
The second-leg will take place in Senegal 15-19 Nov.
Drogba was making his return for the first time since the country’s calamitous African Nations Cup finals performance at the start of the year.
The Ivorians were the runaway favourites in South Africa but were bundled out in the quarter-final by eventual winners, Nigeria.
Drogba, for so long a "talismanic" figure for the Elephants, was dropped for the first time during the tournament and coach Sabri Lamouchi then left him out of World Cup qualifiers in March and June, all the while deflecting speculation of a rift with his captain by claiming that the 35-year-old needed to work on his fitness.
Drogba, still hoping to make a third successive World Cup finals appearance in Brazil next year, looked sharp at the weekend in helping Galatasaray win a pre-season mini-tournament at Arsenal.
-0- PANA VAO 12Oct2013
