Black Stars 2015 Africa Cup of Nations contenders- Ivory Coast

[caption id="attachment_274420" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Ivory Coast[/caption] The Elephants have been amongst the most dangerous teams in African football for many years now, but failed to impress at last year's tournament when they were eliminated at the quarter-final stages in South Africa.  In the 2012 tournament, they finished, as runners-up and have not won the tournament since 1992.They have yet to qualify for next year's tournament and find themselves in second place, behind Cameroon in Group D with three wins and two losses from their five matches.  A crunch showdown against Cameroon tomorrow night  will seal their fate.However, with new coach, Herve Renard, it will be difficult to write the 25thranked team in the world off. They are also the second highest ranked African team, and with the stars available to them, it's no wonder why.With the experienced Boubacar Barry in goal, fronted by a defence of Liverpool's Kolo Toure, Serge Aurier from PSG, and the likes, you can expect them to be strong at the back.In midfield, their captain, Yaya Toure will add plenty of quality to the team and Newcastle's Cheick Tiote will add to the hard-hitting play in the middle of the park that we've come to expect from the West-African side.In attack, Didier Drogba's international retirement will be of no concern to Herve Renard as he will have an in-form Gervinho, as well as Lacina Traore, Solomon Kalou and Swansea's Wilfried Bony available for selection.Ivory Coast may not have been performing to their best in recent times, but with Yaya Toure playing, what may be, his last major international tournament and an incredible wealth of talent available for selection in every part of the pitch, you can expect them to be one of the most difficult teams to beat in next year's AFCON.