The AC Milan man had put Alberto Zaccheroni's
men into the lead but two nodded goals in the
second half sealed a comeback, inspired by Didier
Drogba's substitute arrival
Second-half headers from Wilfried Bony and
Gervinho completed a Cote d'Ivoire comeback as
they defeated Japan 2-1 on Saturday.
Keisuke Honda put Alberto Zaccheroni's men into
the lead with a wonderful finish, controlling the ball
in the box with his first touch then hammering into
the top corner at the near post with his second
touch.
Sabri Lamouchi's team were profligate in the first
half but Didier Drogba's arrival in the second half
sparked the Elephants into life and quickfire
headers midway through the second half turned
the scoreline on its head.
Full-back Serge Aurier created both goals with
impressive crosses from the right with Bony and
Gervinho taking advantage, although the latter
benefited from poor goalkeeping from Japan's Eiji
Kawashima.
Saturday's game was the first time Cote d'Ivoire
have won their opening fixture at a World Cup as
the African nation look to claim a maiden berth in
the knockout stages in their third consecutive
appearance at the global tournament.
The shock in the two starting line-ups was the
absence of captain Drogba from Cote d'Ivoire's XI,
after he failed to recover from a thigh strain
suffered at training on Wednesday.
Bony took Drogba's spot up front, while coach
Sabri Lamouchi made two other changes to the XI
that began Cote d'Ivoire's 2-1 win over El Salvador
with Kolo Toure - who had struggled with malaria
before the tournament - and Max Gradel being
replaced by Didier Zokora and Yaya Toure.
Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni recalled Makoto
Hasebe after the captain recovered from a knee
injury to make just his third appearance for club or
country this year.
Hasebe started as one of two holding midfielders
alongside Hotaru Yamaguchi, while Yuya Osako
got the nod in Japan's most troublesome position:
centre forward.
Of the four strikers in Zaccheroni's squad, Osako
was the only one yet to have scored for Japan in
2014 but started at the point of their attack ahead
of Shinji Okazaki, Yoshito Okubo and Yoichiro
Kakitani.
Okazaki started on the right wing, while Okubo and
Kakitani were named on the bench.
Cote d'Ivoire had 59.7 per cent possession in the
first half with the Africans starting stronger, as
Bony received the ball in the box before his shot
was deflected past the post in the sixth minute.
But Japan edged their way into the game and in
the 16th minute they hit the front.
Yuto Nagatomo collected a throw-in and fed Honda
on the edge of the box, and the Milan man slipped
away from his marker and fired a thunderous strike
into the top corner.
Atsuto Uchida could have made it 2-0 five minutes
later but the full-back's powerful drive was parried
by Boubacar Barry, before Cote d'Ivoire's
goalkeeper was almost chipped by Honda.
While the Elephants had more of the ball, they
generally struggled to break down Japan's well-
organised defence and their best opportunities
came on the counter-attack.
After Yaya Toure and Arthur Boka just missed the
target with free kicks, Gervinho got free on the
break in the 34th minute only for a scrambling
Maya Yoshida to block his shot with a sliding
challenge.
Honda slalomed through the opposition defence
soon after only to watch his deflected shot loop
over the bar, while Cote d'Ivoire had a couple of
half chances to Salomon Kalou and Boka but were
unable to beat Kawashima.
After a frantic first half, the second started slightly
slower but in the 57th minute Cote d'Ivoire had a
penalty claim ignored after Yaya Toure's drive into
the box ended with a stumble following Yoshida's
sliding challenge.
Drogba was brought on in the 62nd minute for
Serey Die and almost created a goal immediately
with a back-heel to Gervinho before Japan's
defence scrambled the ball clear.
But Cote d'Ivoire fans did not need to wait long for
an equaliser with Bony getting between Yoshida
and Masato Morishige to nod Aurier's fine cross
past Kawashima in the 64th minute.
A cross from Aurier set up Cote d'Ivoire's second
goal soon after but Kawashima would have been
unhappy with his effort, failing to stop Gervinho's
header despite getting two hands to the ball at the
near post.
Kawashima did better in the 82nd minute, parrying
Drogba's free-kick away, while the striker had a
shot deflected past the post soon after.
But it mattered little as Cote d'Ivoire moved into
second in Group C behind Colombia ahead of their
clash on Thursday, while Japan face Greece on the
same day.
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