Holland 2 Ivory Coast 1: Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba expressed his team's frustration at being knocked out of the World Cup after a 2-1 defeat by Netherlands today.

As in their opening loss to Argentina by the same score, the Ivorians played well but went two goals down before pulling one back in a vain attempt to get themselves into a Group C game.
   
"It's a huge disappointment, because we wanted to put on a really big performance and beat the Dutch," Drogba told reporters at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion.
   
"We saw that they had a few weaknesses but in the end they won it - just like Argentina did last week.
   
"Everyone says we play well but it's not the most important thing -- playing well is a bonus. The result is always going to be the most important, as we've learned today.
   
"We are very frustrated because we had chances to come back," added the Chelsea striker.
   
Considering it was his strife-torn nation's first appearances at the finals, he added:
   
"I just look at my team and I can say I'm proud of them - because we did something fantastic for our country."

The team's French coach Henri Michel also found their exit hard to digest.
   
"We came here with ambition but unfortunately the two matches ended up being similar - we concede two goals in the opening stages and then we are chasing the game," he said.
   
Robin van Persie and Ruud van Nistelrooy put Netherlands 2-0 ahead after 26 minutes before Bakary Kone pulled a goal back for the Ivory Coast just before halftime.
   
"It annoys me to hear people always saying we play with real quality. In international football, quality isn't the only thing that counts, there's effectiveness as well," said Michel.
   
"We forgot that. And it's a source of great frustration."
   
Midfielder Romaric tried to look on the bright side, saying: "I think we've shown a lot of good things, even though we haven't had the results.
   
"We're a young team, we've got a future ahead of us and we are learning. We want to eliminate the mistakes we've made, because in games like this it's the details that make the difference."
   
Fellow midfielder Kanga Akale, who came off the bench, said: "The second goal coming so soon after the first pulled the rug from under us.
   
"We're all disappointed...but we've learned a lot and I hope we're going to be back in 2010."
   
The next World Cup will be hosted by South Africa.