Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - Cote d'Ivoire's national football team (Elephants) are scheduled to play friendly matches against Stuttgart club of Germany and Jordan on 13 and 17 January, respectively, it was learnt here on Thursday.

The objective of the two matches is to prepare the "Elephants" for the African Cup of Nations (CAN) finals to be staged in Egypt from 20 January to 10 February.

The two friendly matches will be staged at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where the Ivorian national team is undergoing residential training to prepare for the Egyptian expedition.

Henri Michel, the team's French coach, explained that he will use the two matches to test the 23 selected players and rectify technical as well as tactical weaknesses in the Ivorian national team's playing pattern.

Meanwhile, soccer pundits in Abidjan expect the "Elephants" to maintain their unbeaten record they showed during trial matches against Romania and Italy to assure them before their opening CAN match against Morocco on 21 January.

Cote d'Ivoire has already played the friendly matches, which culminated into a 0-3 loss to France, a 2-1 victory against Romania and a 1-1 draw with Italy.