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Japan attacker Shinji Kagawa says that Didier Drogba made the difference in his team's 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast in their World Cup opener.

Japan attacker Shinji Kagawa has claimed that Didier Drogba made the difference in his team's 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast on Sunday morning.

Drogba started on the bench for the African outfit in their World Cup opener in Recife, but starred after entering with 30 minutes to play.

"They became more aggressive on the attack when Drogba entered the game; he became the origin of their front line's plays and we couldn't break that down," Kagawa told reporters.

"I think we felt threatened by their front line and weren't able to attack aggressively in the first half because of that.

"Our defenders weren't able to find their footing and, after we scored, we essentially shot ourselves in the foot with our mistakes."

Keisuke Honda opened the scoring for Japan, before goals from Wilfried Bony and Gervinho secured all three points for Ivory Coast.

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