Ivory Coast: Toure relishing Portugal challenge

Ivory Coast defender Yaya Toure is relishing the chance to test himself against Portugal's all-star line-up as his World Cup adventure gets under way.

The 27-year-old Barcelona man and his team-mates go head-to-head with Cristiano Ronaldo and company in Port Elizabeth this afternoon with the two sides ready to battle it out with Group G rivals Brazil and North Korea for a place in the last 16.

Even if striker Didier Drogba is able to play barely a week after undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone in his arm, the Africans know they will face a stiff test.

However, that is not something which fazes Toure.

He said: "I would rather play against great players than to face players who are not of such a high calibre.

"We know we are facing high-level players and a high-level international team, so it is not going to be easy.

"But we have within our team high-quality players, we have people who play at major clubs and who can deliver the goods, so it is going to be a great game and we have got to enjoy it."

Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has admitted Drogba will best know if he is able to play with his injury - Ivory Coast officials requested permission yesterday for the 32-year-old to play wearing a lightweight protective cast - but remains confident he will be involved at some point in the campaign even if he misses out today.

The Chelsea frontman trained with his team-mates at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium last night in driving rain and howling winds as winter descended on the Eastern Cape city.

Eriksson said: "We are rather confident that he can play part of this tournament.

"Tomorrow is eight days since he broke his arm and it is a short time, but we think he will take part in the tournament - and we haven't called in any other players, so that says everything.

"I hope he can play tomorrow, but I am not sure about it."

The game sees Eriksson once again lock horns with an old foe with Portugal having got the better of him as England manager in the quarter-finals of both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup in penalty shoot-outs.

This time around, he knows the Portuguese may be expected to win, but he has warned people not to underestimate his side.

He said: "If you look at the rankings, Portugal is third and we are 21st or something like that. However, those rankings are not everything.

"Let's see. I really don't know who is the favourite."

Meanwhile, Toure was maintaining a diplomatic silence over reports linking him with a summer move to Barclays Premier League side Arsenal.

He said: "I have said a lot of times I want to go to the Premier League because the Premier League is a very nice competition.

"After the World Cup, I will decide what I do but at the moment, I want to concentrate on the World Cup."