Soccer has once again shown that it is able to bring people together. Before the FIFA World Cup this past summer, the Ivory Coast, a small African country, had been going through a civil war. Since 2002, the West African country has been divided in two because of a failed coup. Leaders of the country began talking for the first time in years. This is because of one thing and one thing only, the Elephants, the national soccer team, qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever. Since they qualified, the team made up of players from various ethnic backgrounds from the rebel-held North and the government-controlled South has represented national unity, something this country desperately needs. One of the mothers to the team says that ethnicity is not an issue, and the men on the team get along fabulously. She says that the team often play traditional drums together; also, they often go out to nightclubs. According to her, the team can bring peace to the Ivory Coast.  

Forward Didier Zokora celebrates a goal against Serbia and Montenegro in the World Cup.