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Ivory Coast Just Beat France in France, Now the Competition Gets Tougher Against the Union’s Second Team
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The Ivory Coast national team travels to the Philadelphia region this weekend ahead of their World Cup opener on June 14th at “Philadelphia Stadium,” which is Lincoln Financial Field sans corporate name. That’s FIFA policy. They don’t allow corporate branding if they aren’t partnered with the sponsors themselves.
Anyway, the Ivorians just beat France in a warmup game in Nantes:
These guys are staying in Wilmington and training in Chester for the World Cup. They’ll play two of their Group Stage games at “Philadelphia Stadium,” so it makes sense. It’s just funny to think about these guys hanging out in Delaware and maybe walking around without anybody recognizing them.
Part of their preparation includes a Monday scrimmage against the Union reserves at Subaru Park, then a Friday training session at the Soob, which is also open to the public. Maybe I’m the only one who fins it humorous that they just played and beat guys like Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise in a high-profile friendly, now they have to face Stas Korzeniowski and Malik Jakupovic at the Soob. This is a REAL test for the Ivorians! The boys in blue will give the Ivorians a real warmup and help them get ready for El Copa Mundial.
The nice thing is that both of these events are free. You just have to sign up at this link.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com