FIFA World Cup 2010: Korea DPR vs. Ivory Coast - Full Time Report
Ivory Coast and Korea DPR went into today’s match with quite different protective. Ivory Coast needed to overcome a seven goal deficit and win today’s match while hoping Brazil beat Portugal in order to confirm their qualification to the next round. DPRK went into the match with zero points and were at the bottom of the table, the only thing they could possibly play for was to salvage some pride.
The match began with Ivory coast on top and Ivory Coast had a real chance in the first five minutes, but a fine save from the Korean keeper, Ri, stopped the goal. As the half started to shape up it was Ivory Coast doing most of the attacking with the Korean’s looking to attack on the break. Drogba had the ball in the net on the tenth minute but it was disallowed as Drogba was a centimeter offside, it was a beautifully taken head none the less. Manchester City bound midfielder, Yaya Toure, controlled the ball brilliantly outside the box before passing it around the keeper, into the goal. So Ivory Coast were one nil up after that beautifully taken goal.
Romaric had an audacious shot come off the post, he struck the ball from the right flank with his weaker left foot, but it had the keeper well beaten. Drogba showed some magnificent control as he took a thunderous shot which came off the post, but fortunately fell in front of Romaric who headed it home. Ivory Coast were now two goals up and looking like scoring another, any second now. The DPRK player Jo took a free kick from twenty yards out which had the keeper glued to his position, but the ball sailed inches over the bar.
Soon after that Ivory Coast were back on the attack, with the Korean’s keeping them at bay. The Ivoirians were showing the Koreans only 26 percent of possession at the half hour mark. The game quieted down significantly compared to the opening minutes and the Ivoirians, weren’t making chances as easily as they did in the opening quarter. The first half came to a close with the score two nil in Ivory Coasts favor. There were no bookings during the half.
The second half was under way but in dramatic fashion, with Ri Myong-Guk, the DPRK keeper colliding into the onrushing Keita, in the opening minute of the second half, the keeper looked to be out and it was initially thought he would need to be substituted, but he was back on his feet in a matter of minutes. The match continued in the same manner, with which the first half ended, with Ivory Coast entertaining most of the possession and every one trying their luck from distance.
A corner on the fifty fourth minute saw Drogba, dive in towards the ball, but his effort sailed over the bar. Boka whipped in a super cross which headed right towards Drogba on the sixty first minute, but the star striker couldn’t keep his head down. On the sixty fourth minute, the Ivoirians looked to introduce some fresh legs and Gervinho and Keita were replaced by Dindane and Kalou. By the sixty fifth minute Ivory Coast had taken a total of seventeen shot on target, but only two of those resulted in goals. The next real chance fell to the feet of Kalou, who struck his shot straight at the keeper. A minute later it was in his feet again but he blazed the ball high and wide.
DPRK didn’t appear to even create a single decent chance so far and it appeared like they didn’t really care. The Ivoirians looked like they were losing the flair, with which they had started the match. On the seventy ninth minute the Ivory Coast manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, used his final substitution and brought on Seydou Doumbia to replace Romaric. On the eighty first minute, Boka floated in a delightful ball, which Kalou smashed home, to give Ivory Coast the three nil lead. Four minutes later, Dindane had the ball in the back of the DPRK net, but he was ruled offside. There were a few chances on goal soon after, but the Ivoirians put all their shots wide of the goal. So at the end of the ninety minutes it was Ivory Coast three and Korea DPR nil. Unfortunately, winning with such a good score line was still not enough to keep the Ivoirians in the tournament. Who along with the Korean’s were on their way home.
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