Road to Recovery

Striker Didier Drogba remains a doubtful starter ahead of the Ivory Coast's opening World Cup match against Portugal on Tuesday (CBC, CBSports.ca, 9:30 a.m. ET), leaving coach Sven-Goran Eriksson with a tough decision to make.

Does Eriksson throw Drogba, who broke his right arm in a recent friendly, directly into the starting 11 against Portugal?

Does he take the more cautious approach and use him strictly as a second-half substitute?

Or does he not gamble at all, and give Drogba the day off and let him rest and recuperate so he'll have a better chance of playing in his team's next match.

All good questions, but there's only one answer: expect to see Drogba in the starting line-up.

Regarded as one of the top strikers in the world, Drogba is easily the Ivory Coast's best player. And while they do have other talented strikers (Aruna Dindane and Salomon Kalou) neither one of them are as dangerous or even in the same league as Drogba.

Not only that, but Drogba provides his team with a creative spark, and he draws defenders to him, opening space for his attacking teammates to exploit.

Les Elephants need Drogba on the field, especially against a tough opponent such as Portugal, so unless his arm falls off between now and Tuesday's kick-off, the Chelsea star will take to the field with his arm in a protective cast.