Brazil has advanced past Group G as they beat out Ivory Coast 3-1 Sunday, securing their spot in the second round.
Memorable moments from the match include forward Luis Fabiano’s pair of goals, aided with slight touches from his arm and hand, “the ball really touched my hand and then shoulder” Fabiano said “but it was involuntary. It was one of the greatest goals I’ve scored in my career.” His first goal in six matches, Fabiano scored first in at the 25th minute with a strong right-footed kick after a perfect pass from Ricardo Izecson dos, whose nickname is Kaka. Leaping over Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure Fabian kicked the ball into the difficult top corner of the net.
Kaka was sent off the pitch at the 88th minute after receiving two late yellow cards, but Brazil powered onwards despite losing their strong midfielder to the sidelines. Kaka was removed from the match because of an altercation with Ivory Coast forward Kader Keita, and will not play during Brazil’s next match against Portugal on Friday. A Brazilian player has not been sent off the pitch during the World Cup since Ronaldinho in 2002 during a match against England in the quarters.
“The red car was completely unfair” Brazil’s coach Dunga commented. KaKa said “It was a touch match” and that “it got violent in two or three plays there”. Overall the match was very physical, and both teams received hard fouls and confronted each other at times with aggression.
Fabiano’s second goal in the 50th minute was a left footer, and came after beating his way around two Ivory Coast defenders inside the penalty spot. This goal was “helped by his slight of hand”. The Ivory Coast team was livid over Fabiano’s hand ball goal “It shouldn’t of been allowed” Coach Even-Goran Eriksson said, “They got a goal free. That’s a 2-nil goal - - That changed everything. It’s even more difficult if he’s allowed to use his hands. Of course it’s a hand ball. It’s not once, it’s twice”.
Elano Blumer scored Brazil’s third and final goal in the 62nd minute, again thanks to a good set up from Kaka. Elano’s goal came moments before he hurt his left shin and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher.
Didier Drogba, forward for the Ivory Coast, scored his nations first ever goal against big time champs Brazil in the African nations’ history, heading the ball into the next during the 79th minute. Drogba broke his right arm in a warm up game against Japan in early June, and it had been unknown if he would recover in time to participate in the World Cup. Much to the pleasure of eagerly awaiting fans, Drogba returned to play in the opening match against Portugal, his arm still lightly cast, but ready to play. During the match against Brazil his arm was still in a special protective cast approved by FIFA.
Despite their historic achievement, the Ivory Coast team is in a difficult position for advancement from the group stages. The African nation put almost all of its players on defense. “To beat Brazil you must be almost perfect” Coach Eriksson said, unfortunately the Ivory Coast wasn’t good enough this year to pull it off.
Brazil has won all six of their matches against African nations during the 2010 World Cup. They won eight straight matches in the group phase this year. Tout of a total of 32 group stage matches played, Brazil has lost only once, back in 1970. African teams are 1-7-4 at this world cup, while South African teams are 7-0-2
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