HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -ARGENTINA KEPT the Elephants from dancing in their World Cup debut.
Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola took advantage of some shaky defence to score first-half goals, leading Argentina over Ivory Coast 2-1 yesterday in the first game of what many think is the toughest group at the World Cup.
Didier Drogba, a key to Chelsea's two straight English Premier League titles, got Ivory Coast's goal in the 82nd minute, just missing a header, and then converting from out in front after the ball was played back.
Argentina won their fourth straight World Cup opener and next play Serbia and Montenegro on Friday, when Ivory Coast meet the Netherlands. The Dutch face Serbia and Montenegro in their Group C opener today.
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Ivory Coast, who got past African power Cameroon to qualify for the first time, were dressed in bright orange jerseys, and so were their fans. The supporters serenaded the team with 'When the Elephants dance, it's the ground that suffers' after wins, but they didn't have much to sing about.
Argentina fans, in their blue-and-white-striped shirts, filled the other end. Four years ago in Japan, the two-time World Cup champions were eliminated in the first round and were ridiculed back home, where newspapers took a photo of the team's defensive wall and superimposed handbags draped on the players' arms.
Lionel Messi, Argentina's rising 18-year-old star who plays for European champion FC Barcelona, did not get into the game, which featured entertaining, end-to-end action.
After being outplayed early, Argentina nearly went ahead in the 14th minute when Roberto Ayala had a powerful header from about 10 metres off Juan Roman Riquelme's corner kick. The ball bounced off the hands of goalkeeper Jean-Jacques Tizie and his right post, then came back at least partially - and maybe completely over the line.
Tizie, his back to the field, bobbled it before gathering it in, and Argentine players argued after Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere failed to signal a goal.
Crespo scored in the 24th off a free kick by Riquelme. The ball bounced off a leaping Drogba and bounced into the penalty area, where Crespo kicked it in from about five metres for his 30th goal in 56 international appearances. Drogba argued to no avail that he had been fouled by Gabriel Heinze.
Saviola got Argentina's second goal in the 38th, breaking ahead to receive Riquelme's through ball.
