Luck, or a lack of it, played a part in Ivory Coasts disappointing World Cup campaign. But the team hailed as the countrys Golden Generation have only themselves to blame, in a campaign which crumbled under the expectations of a continent.Drogba was hampered by an elbow injury during a disappointing World Cup campaignBad luck placed them, once again, in arguably the toughest group in the tournament. Bad luck gave their star striker Didier Drogba a broken elbow a week before their first game. Bad luck saw them concede a second, killer goal to Brazil which should have been disallowed for handball. Twice. And bad luck forced them to play the groups weakest team, North Korea, last, once their fate Frank White Jersey had all but been sealed.But there were no arguments of misfortune after their first game, a seemingly creditable 0-0 draw against the widely dismi sed yet still admired Portuguese team. That match, the Elephants first in the South African competition, was the moment that their destiny was truly in their own hands. The stage was set for the Golden Generation, including Drogba, Didier Zokora, Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo and Yaya Toure and Salomon Kalou, to seize their moment at footballs biggest tournament.But the lack of adventure Billy Hamilton Jersey , daring, flair and excitement leaves those stars returning home to their respective clubs, wondering if they will be called upon in four years time, should Ivory Coast qualify once more.Much of the teams negative approach is attributed to now former manager Sven Goran Erik son, whose fondne s for organisation and stability over free flowing forward football was well established during spells in charge of England and Mexico. But Zokora, who at 29 years old will not have too many more chances to play at the World Cup, claims that progre s has been made.Im really confident because Erik son changed a lot in the team. The key change is that were now playing together as a team, said the Sevilla midfielder. Now when we lose the ball, we close down space as weve become very disciplined.Erik son was only in charge of the Elephants for one month and five gamesSuch a defence is admirable in its pragmatism, but offers little inspiration. Indeed, there were very few reasons to cheer for Elephants fans. Four goals, one a consolation, three against Abraham Almonte Jersey a team whose sole objective was to avoid another seven goal thumping, barely quickened Ivorian heartbeats. Their loyal and majestical support, buoyed by the earnest optimism of an entire continent and a world full of well-wishers, did themselves proud, but on the back of an uninspiring team drifted into the background noise of a tournament which had little time for sentimentality.The first African World Cup was meant to be an opportunity for the worlds second largest and second most populous continent to show what it could do. As well as the presence of six teams in the competition, African football was meant to pave the way for African people to confound worldwide stereotypes of starving, pa sive victims and show themselves as they wished to be seen.It started well. South Africas dramatic opening draw with Mexico, the novelty of spectacular stadiums and panoramic views. Broadcasters and reporters fell over themselves to present the Homer Bailey Jersey country and the continent in new and exciting ways.Soon, however, the cracks in the fairytale grew; from the failure of Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast and the too-little-too-late drama of South Africa; to the cruel and unsympathetic elimination of Ghana at the Quarter-Final stage.As the attention ebbed away from African teams to the Europeans and South Americans, so too the focus on South Africa, and the wondrous similarities and differences it shares with the continent as a whole, reverted to a view of a pa sive Africa; wide-eyed and smiling as the football world pa sed them by.Back to busine s as normal now the fans have left South AfricaToo easily, all of a sudden, the genuine optimism was forgotten, replaced by sentimental dreams which the reality of football so rarely rewards. The hope behind Drogba, one of African footballs leading lights, became just another footnote in history.You cant be too disappointed when exiting a group like this, said Ivory Coasts all-time leading goal-scorer and Player of the Year for Chelsea, the English Premier League Champions. We have a good team and good players but Brazil and Portugal are better than us. In an easier group, perhaps wed have gone through.In a tournament Martin Maldonado Jersey in which each African team, together and individually, was so happily used to represent Africa itself, Drogbas closing comments expre s the failure of such a cultural gamble. If the African teams succeeded, Africa succeeded. But the pa sivity of their failures, in humble acknowledgement of the gulf that lies above them, inspires nothing but forgetting. The one remaining hope is that Africa, too, is not forgotten.