Ivory Coast owes their historic qualification for Germany to an exceptional generation of soccer players who for the most part served their apprenticeship at the academy set up by Jean-Marc Guillou just outside Abidjan. Aruna Dindane, Kolo Toure, Didier Zokora, Arthur Boka, Blaise Kouassi and Barry Copa all "graduated" from Guillou's academy and formed the inside  nucleus of it's successful qualifying campaign.

Also Arsenal's Drogba had a partnership with Dindane which proved to be the most prolific in the African Zone qualifiers and was the key to C?te d'Ivoire's success.

The Ivory Coast team will travel to Switzerland for their final stage; to prepare for the final phase of the World Cup. They will have their camp in Switzerland since it's so close to Germany. The players will have a chance to get used to weather they will encounter in Germany.

On the other side, after failing to qualify for the last two editions Switzerland claimed a place in Germany. In their last appearance in USA 1994 they made it to the round of 16 but fell 3-0 against runner-up Italy.

In the qualifying stage before the play-off second-leg defeat by Turkey, the Swiss had gone a full year and 14 straight games without a defeat; evidence of the growing strength of a team that includes players who attracted rave reviews at various under-age levels. Their line-up in the play-offs featured Tranquillo Barnetta and Philippe Senderos both of whom claimed UEFA European U-17 Championship honors in 2002.

It seems the trend of many teams is to travel to Switzerland for their final preparations, and the Swiss are taking advantage of that; having a lot of teams coming to play in their home soil to travel to nearby Germany for the start of the big tournament.

One of the squads that will go to Switzerland is the Ivory Coast, which is a team that works perfectly for the Swiss since their style of play is very similar to the Swiss match group rival Togo. In this game Switzerland will tune up the final details before traveling to Germany.

Most sports books will have lines for these friendly matches, so if you like sports betting and soccer don't miss the opportunity to bet in this game held at the Alps.

Cialis Western Open

July 6th- 9th

Cog Hill G&CC, Lemont, Illinois

Live on XM 146/USA/ABC

Purse: $5,000,000

Last Champion: Jim Furyk

The Cialis Western Open, conducted by the Western Golf Association, has a history unparalleled by all but one golf championship in the United States. First held in 1899, the Western Open is the oldest championship on the PGA TOUR and the second oldest professional golf championship in the nation. Only the U.S. Open, first conducted in 1895 by the United States Golf Association, is older.

When the PGA TOUR professionals come to Chicago each year to compete in the Cialis Western Open, they are following in the hallowed footsteps of golf's all-time greats. Past champions include golf's greatest legends, including Chick Evans, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. The past two decades have seen Tom Watson, Hale Irwin, Tom Weiskopf, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price and Tiger Woods add their names to the Western Open's J. K. Wadley Cup's impressive roster of champions.

Today, the Western Open is considered the founding event of the PGA TOUR. Much has changed since 1899, including the prize money. This year's 102nd Western Open purse totals $5 million, with the winner earning $900,000. In the Western Open's initial year, the total purse was $150, with the winner earning $50.

On last year's tournament Furyk , after finishing second three times last year, including a devastating loss the previous weekend, Furyk against all Sportsbook odds answered Woods' charge with three straight birdies and hung on to win the Cialis Western Open. It was his 10th PGA TOUR victory and the first since the 2003 Buick Open.

After tapping in for a birdie, Furyk took off his cap and shook hands with third round co-leader Ben Curtis. Furyk then turned and pumped his fists to the cheering crowd before sharing a long hug with caddie Fluff Cowan.

"You take the combination of last week, surgery and not winning since surgery, you put all that together and it was an emotional win," said Furyk, who missed half of last year after having wrist surgery.

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