World Cup 2014: Didier Drogba 'can't express feelings' after being included among Ivory Coast substitutes again

Wilfried Bony has started ahead of the former Chelsea striker in both of Ivory Coast's games

Gervinho celebrates his winner after the Ivory Coast came from a goal down to beat Japan (Getty Images)

For the second World Cup game running he started his country’s most famous player on the bench but Ivory Coast coach Sabri Lamouchi warned that it would be wrong to read too much into the demotion of Didier Drogba.

As against Japan in the Elephants’ opening Group C match, former Chelsea favourite Drogba began on the bench in the 2-1 defeat against Colombia before joining the action at around the hour-mark and Lamouchi said of the 36-year-old: “We shouldn’t get fixated on Didier Drogba, it’s just the second game where he’s been on the bench. We were behind and we had to make changes.”

Drogba, who had played an important role as a substitute against Japan, was this time a 60-minute substitute for Wilfriend Bony, and he touched on his situation after when he said after his country’s 2-1 defeat: “I can’t always express what I feel. These are the coach’s choices and I respect them. We showed we were good enough. We conceded two goals from stupid balls but otherwise played a good game.”

Another Ivorian icon struggling to show his best form right now is Yaya Toure. Lamouchi admitted that the Manchester City player returned home from the Premier League season with fitness problems but argued that Toure had improved on his performance in the opening group game against Japan.

“I’ve always been very honest about the state of Yaya’s health. He is growing in power, but this is Ivory Coast we are talking about, not Manchester City. I got back a player who was tired and injured buy despite that he has been very useful. I found him a lot better than in the last match.”

Despite losing yesterday, Ivory Coast remained second in Group C with three points thanks to the goalless draw between Japan and Greece. “We have to recover quickly and keep our heads high and look for win against Greece,” added Lamouchi, though a draw may yet prove enough.