Ivory Coast star Kolo Toure says Sven Goran Eriksson's 'humble' nature has transformed the Elephants' fortunes.
Swede has brought squad together, says defender
Ivory Coast star Kolo Toure says Sven Goran Eriksson's 'humble' nature has transformed the Elephants' fortunes.
Former England boss Eriksson took over the reins prior to the World Cup finals in South Africa and saw his team start their Group G campaign by drawing against Portugal.
The result was more welcomed by Toure's team than their widely-fancied counterparts, who will have eyed three points from a crunch encounter in the 'Group of Death'.
And defender Toure believes the Swede's cool demeanour has strengthened the spirit of the squad, leaving them united in their aim to progress to the knockout stages.
Humble
The 29-year-old said in the
Daily Mirror: "We like Sven because he's a really humble man. He lets the group do what we want and that is most important.
"The manager has made a big difference. He has made us more organised on the pitch, which is what we needed. And the spirit off the pitch with him in charge is really good too.
"All the players in this squad have known each other for a long time. We all grew up in the same academy, so to be together is like playing with your brother."
Ivory Coast's 0-0 stalemate against Portugal on Tuesday was made all the more credible given the absence of talisman Didier Drogba.
The Chelsea striker was the conspicuous absence from the starting line-up after failing to recover in time for the clash following a broken arm sustained in the pre-tournament build-up.
But Drogba is primed to return to action for his country's next game against Brazil on Sunday and Toure is buoyed by his team-mate's possible comeback for a game which will go a long way to deciding their World Cup fate.
He explained: "Having Didier back will be a big help, because he's such a big player for us. Didier is talented in front of the goal, so having him back is a big plus.
"I was worried he wouldn't be fit when he broke his arm, but for us the group is the most important thing. If you have fighters in your squad, you can win anything."
Still fighting
The Manchester City man insisted there would be no pressure on his side going into the match, although he refused to rule out upsetting Dunga's hotly-tipped team in Johannesburg.
"There is no pressure on us, just because we are playing in Africa," he added. "We know there are top countries here in South Africa, who have lots of money to put into the team.
"As African countries, we don't have those facilities, but we're still fighting. We're really proud of Ghana's win over Serbia and we hope next time it will be us."
He went on: "To draw with Portugal was a good result for us, one point is not bad because Portugal are one of the best teams in the world. We played very well as a team, that was most important.
"It is about the whole team, not just the defence. We need to defend even better against Brazil but we have the chance in our hands now."
