Stalemate puts Portugal into last 16
Source: Agencies |
June 26, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
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BRAZIL and Portugal advanced to the second round of the World Cup finals yesterday as Ivory Coast and North Korea made their exits.
Ivory Coast beat North Korea 3-0 but both teams were eliminated.
Brazil, which drew 0-0 with Portugal in Durban, finished top of Group G and will play the runners-up from Group H -- Chile, Spain, Switzerland or Honduras -- in the second round on Monday at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Portugal came second and will play the Group H winner on Tuesday in Cape Town.
What was supposed to be a World Cup classic between two teams known for their attacking flair turned into a huge letdown.
Brazil and Portugal are supposed to be friendly nations with a shared language and colonial past. But there was no love lost in yesterday's first half in Durban. Four Portugal players and three from Brazil were booked before the break.
Tempers cooled with the night air in the second half, but so did the match's intensity as the most keenly anticipated first-round fixture fizzled out and the players were jeered at the final whistle.
There were only three efforts on target before the break as both teams cancelled each other out.
"It was a difficult game. They started very strongly, we had to put on our working overalls but I think we left the match wearing a smoking jacket," said Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz. "There was a fantastic attitude from all the Portugal players. They were great in how they tried to play their football and how they fought.
"It's a qualification for the next round that is fully merited and now we have to think about another type of game, with everything for the winner and nothing for the loser."
Brazil, already qualified, surprisingly left Robinho out of its starting lineup, replacing him with Nilmar, while Julio Baptista stood in for the suspended Kaka in midfield.
In Nelspruit, needing a glut of goals to stand any chance of advancing from Group G, Ivory Coast left Salomon Kalou on the bench and opted for a three-pronged attack of Didier Drogba, Gervais Kouassi and Abdelkader Keita.
North Korea coach Kim Jong-hun kept faith with the same starting 11 that was ruthlessly dismantled 0-7 by Portugal in the previous game.
Goals from Yaya Toure and Ndri Romaric gave the Ivorians a 2-0 halftime lead, but it could have been five or six as North Korea struggled to cope with the one-way traffic heading towards its net.
Ri Myong-guk was forced into action right from the kickoff, making a smart save from Keita, but there would be no respite for the North Korean goalkeeper as Ivory Coast flooded forwarded at every opportunity.
Drogba looked in the mood from the outset and had the ball in the net in the 11th minute but his header was disallowed for offside.
The Ivorians would not have long to wait though and in the 14th minute Toure took a pass on the edge of the area before opening up his body and curling the ball into the far corner of the net.
Romaric struck the outside of the post four minutes later but was on hand to nod the ball home after Drogba crashed a vicious shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 20th minute.
North Korea's first and only chance of the first half came in the 25th minute when captain Hong Yong-jo stroked a freekick just wide of Boubacar Barry's goal.
Ivory Coast beat North Korea 3-0 but both teams were eliminated.
Brazil, which drew 0-0 with Portugal in Durban, finished top of Group G and will play the runners-up from Group H -- Chile, Spain, Switzerland or Honduras -- in the second round on Monday at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Portugal came second and will play the Group H winner on Tuesday in Cape Town.
What was supposed to be a World Cup classic between two teams known for their attacking flair turned into a huge letdown.
Brazil and Portugal are supposed to be friendly nations with a shared language and colonial past. But there was no love lost in yesterday's first half in Durban. Four Portugal players and three from Brazil were booked before the break.
Tempers cooled with the night air in the second half, but so did the match's intensity as the most keenly anticipated first-round fixture fizzled out and the players were jeered at the final whistle.
There were only three efforts on target before the break as both teams cancelled each other out.
"It was a difficult game. They started very strongly, we had to put on our working overalls but I think we left the match wearing a smoking jacket," said Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz. "There was a fantastic attitude from all the Portugal players. They were great in how they tried to play their football and how they fought.
"It's a qualification for the next round that is fully merited and now we have to think about another type of game, with everything for the winner and nothing for the loser."
Brazil, already qualified, surprisingly left Robinho out of its starting lineup, replacing him with Nilmar, while Julio Baptista stood in for the suspended Kaka in midfield.
In Nelspruit, needing a glut of goals to stand any chance of advancing from Group G, Ivory Coast left Salomon Kalou on the bench and opted for a three-pronged attack of Didier Drogba, Gervais Kouassi and Abdelkader Keita.
North Korea coach Kim Jong-hun kept faith with the same starting 11 that was ruthlessly dismantled 0-7 by Portugal in the previous game.
Goals from Yaya Toure and Ndri Romaric gave the Ivorians a 2-0 halftime lead, but it could have been five or six as North Korea struggled to cope with the one-way traffic heading towards its net.
Ri Myong-guk was forced into action right from the kickoff, making a smart save from Keita, but there would be no respite for the North Korean goalkeeper as Ivory Coast flooded forwarded at every opportunity.
Drogba looked in the mood from the outset and had the ball in the net in the 11th minute but his header was disallowed for offside.
The Ivorians would not have long to wait though and in the 14th minute Toure took a pass on the edge of the area before opening up his body and curling the ball into the far corner of the net.
Romaric struck the outside of the post four minutes later but was on hand to nod the ball home after Drogba crashed a vicious shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 20th minute.
North Korea's first and only chance of the first half came in the 25th minute when captain Hong Yong-jo stroked a freekick just wide of Boubacar Barry's goal.
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