Ivory Coast rebound against El Salvador

GENEVA and FRISCO

Didier Drogba and Gervinho each had a goal and an assist in World Cup-bound Ivory Coast’s 2-1 victory over El Salvador on Wednesday night in an exhibition game.

Gervinho took a pass from Drogba for a goal in the ninth minute. In the 42nd minute, Gervinho pulled the El Salvador goalkeeper away from the net and passed across to Drogba for his goal.

El Salvador, which did not qualify for the World Cup, scored on Arturo Alvarez’s penalty kick in the 75th minute. Kolo Abib Toure fouled El Salvador’s Darwin Ceren in the penalty area to set up the kick.

Ivory Coast’s Boubacar Barry made the game’s only save, in the second half.

Ivory Coast rebounded from a 2-1 loss to Bosnia-Herzogovina in St. Louis on Friday night. Drogba also scored for Les Elephants in St. Louis.

El Salvador played a conservative defensive style for most of the game. The Central American team unsuccessfully relied on long passes that would have resulted in breakaways for striker Lester Blanco. 

Ball possession

Ivory Coast had possession of the ball for 56 percent of the game, and had seven corner kicks to El Salvador’s two.

The 36-year-old Drogba, still recovering from a groin injury, left the game in the 63rd minute. El Salvador then opened up its attack.

Herbert Sosa had a scoring chance from in front of the net in the 70th minute, but shot over the goal. Soon after, Barry made his save when he punched away Ceren’s shot headed for the left corner of the net.

El Salvador also will play in the final Road to Brazil friendly, against World Cup-bound Spain on Saturday in Landover, Maryland.

World Cup-bound Algeria beat Romania 2-1 in a warm-up match on Wednesday marred by widespread fan disorder.

The teams were taken off the field after 43 minutes with the score 1-1, and Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic went to the center circle to broadcast an appeal for fans to stop throwing lit flares and bottles.

Referee Nikolaj Haeni of Switzerland brought players back after a 15-minute break to play the final two minutes of the first half, then immediately changed ends to start the second period.---

When El Arabi Soudani scored the decisive goal in the 66th minute, around 15 fans ran on the pitch from three sides of the Stade de Geneve.

A handling error

Nabil Bentaleb had put Algeria ahead in the 21st minute after a handling error by Romania goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon, and Alexandru Chipciu leveled in the 28th.

“The result is very satisfying. The team is progressing on all levels,” said Halilhodzic, adding he was “a bit disappointed with the behavior of our supporters.”

The final whistle brought around 1,000 of the 15,600 spectators on to the field. Many dispersed when water sprinklers were turned on, though some continued to clash with stewards in one corner of the pitch.

Algeria opens against Group H favorite Belgium on June 17 in Belo Horizonte.