Kone: We must stop Robben

Talented, young and exciting, Marco van Basten"s Netherlands could well turn out to be the revelation of the tournament, but there is one at least Côte…

14/06/2006 00:00:00
Talented, young and exciting, Marco van Basten”s Netherlands could well turn out to be the revelation of the tournament, but there is one at least Côte d”Ivoire player who claims to have their number ahead of the sides” Group C meeting on Friday.

Talented, young and exciting, Marco van Basten”s Netherlands could well turn out to be the revelation of the tournament, but there is one at least Coote d”lvoire player who claims to have their number ahead of the sides” Group C meeting on Friday. 

Arouna Kone”s three seasons in the Netherlands have given him the perfect inside line on how to stop the Dutch masters who painted such a pretty picture in overcoming Serbia and Montenegro 1-0 in their opening match.

SI already know the Dutch team very well but we will analyse the Serbia and Montenegro game on video and I”ll be able to help point out their strengths and weaknesses,⬝ said the striker, who is hoping to start the match after coming on for the last 13 minutes of the Elephants” opening 2-1 loss against Argentina. SJust like Cote d”Ivoire, the Dutch team is young but they also have some more experienced players like (Ruud) Van Nistelrooij and (Phillip) Cocu.⬝

Not surprisingly after his man-of-the-match performance against Serbia and Montenegro, View Arouna Kone”s player profile winger Arjen Robben is the man Kone singles out as the one to watch.

SRobben is probably the most important player in their team,⬝ said the 22-year-old. SIn their first match, all attacks were led by him. There”s no doubt he is a great player, but he”s not the only important player to watch out for. I know (Robin) Van Persie well from our teenage years. He had huge potential then and he”s worked hard to develop that talent.⬝

Through the ranks
Kone, who was spotted by local club Rio Sport playing street football on the outskirts of the Ivorian capital Abidjan, first came to the fore on the international stage at the FIFA World Youth Championship UAE 2003 before forcing his way into the senior side at the CAF African Cup of Nations earlier this year.

After an introduction to European club football at Lierse in Belgium he moved north to Roda, scoring 28 goals in two years before joining PSV Eindhoven last year.

SThe football culture is very rich in the Netherlands,⬝ he said. SThere are a lot of good players and they always try to play beautiful football. It will be an intense game on Friday and I believe the team with the most goalscoring opportunities will win. Of course, there will be a lot of pressure on us, but it will be positive pressure.⬝

While Dutch supporters will be in the majority in Stuttgart, Kone is confident African supporters will contribute their part. SIt will be a great atmosphere,⬝ he predicted. SEveryone will be wearing orange.⬝

Along with Serbia and Montenegro, Côte d”Ivoire prop up Group C, trailing the Netherlands and Argentina by three points after the first game.

(FIFAworldcup.com)