Newly appointed Ivory Coast coach Sven Goran Eriksson was at Cobham on Thursday, but not only to meet Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou.
The Swede, England's manager between 2001 and 2006 also caught up with Carlo Ancelotti who he knew well from his time in Italy, and met Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry and Joe Cole, who all wore the three lions under his guidance.
'Carlo Ancelotti, I know very well,' said the 62-year-old. 'He is a good friend, we were opponents as coaches in Italy but before that he was my captain in Roma for three years, so I know him very well, he is a very nice man.
'It is nice to see this training facility, it is absolutely fantastic, I was here before at Cobham when there were cabins, but now it is like a five-star hotel,' he added.
Of course the main reason for Eriksson's visit was to meet his new captain, just days after being appointed to lead Ivory Coast at this summer's World Cup in South Africa.
'My first impressions are excellent,' he confirmed. 'Both Chelsea players seem to be very good human beings, which is important, and the quality they have, Kalou is very talented and Drogba is on the top, top, top level in the world today and has been so for years.
'For sure it is a very talented football team, with a lot of good football players. What I want to do is go as far as possible in the tournament and I will travel around to see more or less all of the players and find out what we need, to have their opinions about things. Then around the 20th, 22nd May, we come together to work, it is a very short period together.'
With experience of two such tournaments already, he knows he has a tough task in guiding Les Elephants through the notorious 'Group of Death', against the two sides that eliminated him as England manager.
'Well, of course, we are in the most difficult group of all,' he acknowledged, 'but I think it is difficult even for Brazil and Portugal. Also everybody who talks about the group forgets about North Korea, who are very similar to South Korea, and have they have the same style, they can run all day that is for sure.'
It will certainly be interesting to see how Eriksson gets on in South Africa, but having Drogba and Kalou on board will do him no harm at all.
The Swede, England's manager between 2001 and 2006 also caught up with Carlo Ancelotti who he knew well from his time in Italy, and met Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry and Joe Cole, who all wore the three lions under his guidance.
'Carlo Ancelotti, I know very well,' said the 62-year-old. 'He is a good friend, we were opponents as coaches in Italy but before that he was my captain in Roma for three years, so I know him very well, he is a very nice man.
'It is nice to see this training facility, it is absolutely fantastic, I was here before at Cobham when there were cabins, but now it is like a five-star hotel,' he added.
Of course the main reason for Eriksson's visit was to meet his new captain, just days after being appointed to lead Ivory Coast at this summer's World Cup in South Africa.
'My first impressions are excellent,' he confirmed. 'Both Chelsea players seem to be very good human beings, which is important, and the quality they have, Kalou is very talented and Drogba is on the top, top, top level in the world today and has been so for years.
'For sure it is a very talented football team, with a lot of good football players. What I want to do is go as far as possible in the tournament and I will travel around to see more or less all of the players and find out what we need, to have their opinions about things. Then around the 20th, 22nd May, we come together to work, it is a very short period together.'
With experience of two such tournaments already, he knows he has a tough task in guiding Les Elephants through the notorious 'Group of Death', against the two sides that eliminated him as England manager.
'Well, of course, we are in the most difficult group of all,' he acknowledged, 'but I think it is difficult even for Brazil and Portugal. Also everybody who talks about the group forgets about North Korea, who are very similar to South Korea, and have they have the same style, they can run all day that is for sure.'
It will certainly be interesting to see how Eriksson gets on in South Africa, but having Drogba and Kalou on board will do him no harm at all.
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