Edin Dzeko bagged a brace as Bosnia-Herzegovina accounted
for Ivory Coast 2-1 in their international friendly in St Louis on Friday.
Dzeko scored either side of the half-time break to
inspire Bosnia to victory against fellow FIFA World Cup participants Ivory
Coast at Edward Jones Dome.
The Manchester City striker broke the deadlock just past
the quarter-hour mark before making sure of the win eight minutes into the
second-half.
Ivory Coast substitute Didier Drogba scored a stunning
free-kick during the closing stages, though it was only a mere consolation.
It was a confidence-boosting win for Bosnia, who are set
to face Argentina, Nigeria and Iran in Group F in their first-ever World Cup
appearance.
Safet Susic's men had lost their last two competitive
games prior to Friday's fixture but they now head into Tuesday's friendly
against Mexico full of confidence.
As for Ivory Coast, it is back to the drawing board and
quickly after three games without a win, with the African nation up against
Colombia, Greece and Japan in Group C in Brazil.
A very open start at the home of NFL franchise the St
Louis Rams saw Bosnia-Herzegovina with the better of the play before Dzeko's
opening goal in the 17th minute.
Miscommunication in the Ivory Coast defence led to the
ball falling to the Manchester City striker at the edge of the area.
With goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo having been drawn out by
an attempted chest back, Dzeko was on hand to curl an effort into an open net
for his 34th international goal.
Ivory Coast started to settle into the encounter midway
through the first half, albeit without overly troubling Asmir Begovic's goal.
It was mostly from set-pieces that Ivory Coast, without
Manchester City star Yaya Toure and his brother Kolo, looked threatening.
Bosnia continued where they left off after the break,
doubling their advantage in the 53rd minute.
Miralem Pjanic delivered the ball to Dzeko on the edge of
the box and the towering front man turned his defender before finding the back
of the net with a half-volley to move 10 goals clear of team-mate Zvjezdan
Misimovic in the scoring charts, though Gbohouo could have done better.
Ivory Coast almost found a way back into the contest on
the hour-mark, however their effort was cleared off the line by veteran
defender Emir Spahic.
The introduction of Drogba sparked Ivory Coast into
action.
But as they attempted to reduce the deficit, it left them
exposed in defence during the final half-hour.
Second-half substitute Vedad Ibisevic, who replaced
man-of-the-match Dzeko, was at the centre of some decent chances for Bosnia.
But the Stuttgart striker could not get on the end of
several delightful crosses into the penalty area.
Bosnia were by far the better team throughout but they
were breached in the first minute of injury-time.
Drogba was fouled outside the box and the striker, who is
a free agent after leaving Galatasaray, alerted potential suitors with a
thunderous free-kick - his sixth goal in eight games for the national team.
Bosnia are back in action against Mexico in Chicago on
Wednesday before flying out to Brazil for their opening World Cup match against
Argentina on June 15.
Meanwhile, Ivory Coast are set to face El Salvador on the
same day.
Ivory Coast go head-to-head with Japan in the opening game
of their World Cup campaign on June 14.
Culled from Soccerway
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