Two nations looking to return to form will do battle today in an international friendly between Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Ivory Coast. The World Cup tune-up scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET will be held at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis and be live streamed here free. Additional TV coverage can be found on beIN Sports.
For Ivory Coast, the pressures of succeeding in a World Cup have reached its peak. The national team has failed to advance past the group stage in each of the last two tournaments. Now, forward Salomon Kalou and company are looking to improve in 2014. The key ingredient to success in this year's rendition of the World Cup: Maturity.
"Maturity, this is important. I think that we have been naive during the two previous editions of the World Cup. When we play at this level, it's the details that make the difference," Kalou said (via Soccerway). "It is not necessarily the case that the team who plays the best football comes out as winner of a contest," he added.
"It is the one that is more focused on regaining the ball or the one that is more concentrated to defend and be like this for 90 minutes in the match. Often, we have played concentrated for just 45 minutes."
Will the Ivory Coast display their newfound maturity against Bosnia-Herzegovina? Tell us @SportsWN
Tactical Preview
Player to Watch: Ivory Coast's Gervinho experienced a rejuvenation at AS Roma this past season. The 27-year-old made 33 league appearances for the club, contributing nine goals and 10 assists en route to a second-place finish in Serie A.
Bosnia-Herzegovina's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Kolasinac, Sunjic, Spahic, Mujdza; Salihovic, Besic; Hajrovic, Pjanic, Ibricic; Dzeko
Ivory Coast's Projected Lineup (4-3-3): Barry; Boka, Bamba, Zokora, Aurier; Die, Bony, Tiote; Kalou, Traore, Gervinho
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