Drogba to decide whether to play against Portugal

Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba will decide if he has recovered sufficiently from a fractured elbow to play against Portugal in their World Cup Group G opener on Tuesday, said coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

"If Drogba will play or not, I don't know. I'm honest about it, I really don't know. Probably we'll take the decision just a couple of hours before the game... And I think the only one who can tomorrow say yes or no is himself," Eriksson said on Monday.

The striker broke his forearm last week in the Ivorians' last warm-up game against Japan during their training camp in Switzerland but travelled with the squad to South Africa, accompanied by the Swiss surgeon who operated on him.

Eriksson said Drogba, who was top scorer in the English Premier League last season, had trained well on Sunday.

"We are rather confident he can play part of this tournament," the Swede added.