Ivory Coast reach agreement with Hiddink – report
Portugal’s first World Cup opponents hire experienced coach
 Reports breaking from Holland say that the Ivory Coast and Guus Hiddink have agreed terms to a two-month contract in which the Dutch manager will take the reins of the Ivorians leading up to and in the World Cup 2010.
Dutch national broadcaster NOS stated that Hiddink has agreed terms with the Ivorian FA on the condition that he is able to terminate his contract with the Russian national team, which he is still legally bound to until June 30th this year.
After Vahid Halilhodzic’s sacking for not taking Drogba and company deep into the African Nations Cup (losing to Algeria in the Quarter-Finals), the Ivorian front office has been linked with numerous managers. Hiddink, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Frenchman Philippe Troussier have all been mooted as potential replacements.
Good World Cup record
Guus Hiddink is known for his attacking football and has previously obtained impressive results as the manager of South Korea (2002), Australia (2006) and Russia (2008).
Hiddink is highly thought-of by Ivory Coast star man Didier Drogba because of his short-lived tenure as Chelsea’s manager after the Scolari era early in 2009. The Dutchman led Chelsea to the Champions League semi-finals and an FA Cup triumph, and lost only once in the Premiership.
The French-speaking African side has much to prove with mega stars on their roster including Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Gervinho, Emmanuel Eboue and Yaya Toure just to name a few. Guus Hiddink is sure to have a baptism by fire with his first competitive match against Portugal on June 15th in South Africa if he indeed takes charge of the Ivory Coast.
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For me as well if we can get out of the group and play Spain tough then that we'll be what i expected. Hope for the best try to prepare for the worst and never over till its over
Hiddink, on the other hand, has had decent success with marginal sides like Australia and Russia. Now he's got some pretty decent talent in a team like Ivory Coast. If he can work out the off-field issues, IC will have a better chance now that they have a good manager.
L, Portugal can still beat them. They still have a very poor defense and awful goalkeeping.
I've said it before, but this is going to be an exciting world cup. I think the possibilities are endless for Portugal: could be a group stage exit or they could seriously make it to the semifinals or further if all the right pieces fall into place.
In all likelihood, the end result will probably be somewhere in the middle.
Honestly, with all of the injuries Portugal have suffered to key players, I will be satisfied if Portugal exit in the round of 16 after finishing 2nd in their group and losing a very close game to Spain.