Brazil Reach Last 16 After Beating Ivory Coast

mtoday

Johannesburg, June 20:  Brazil qualified for the last 16 of the World Cup with a 3-1 win against Ivory Coast in their World Cup Group G clash at Soccer City, but had star midfielder Kaka controversially sent off. 

 

 

Kaka was dismissed for a second yellow card in the final minutes for pushing Abdelkader Keita, but it appeared the Ivorian had wildly exaggerated the impact of the shove by falling to the ground clutching his head. 

 

Sevilla forward Luis Fabiano showed Brazilian flair in both his goals which takes the Dunga-coached South American giants into the knockout phase with their final group game with Portugal still to come. 

Midfielder Elano compounded Ivory Coast’s misery with a well-taken shot on 62 minutes after some great work on the left wing from Kaka before Didier Drogba scored a late consolation goal on 79 minutes. 

But Elano was later stretchered off the field with what seemed to be a nasty shin injury. 

Chelsea striker Drogba started for the Ivory Coast despite his broken arm, but the Premier League star was largely overshadowed as Dunga’s side lived up to their mantra Joga Bonito - play beautifully - with some Brazilian magic. 

With the stadium pitch looking tired for only its fourth game of the World Cup, the match got off to a slow start in front of a 84,455 crowd. 

The Brazilians opened the scoring when Kaka slotted a pass between two defenders for Luis Fabiano to blast his shot high into the net past Elephants’ goalkeeper Boubacar Barry on 25 minutes. 

The Elephants finished the half on the attack with Portsmouth forward Aruna Dindane testing Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar, but it stayed 1-0 at the break. 

Luis Fabiano again showed his class as his three touches - with a suspicion of handball - saw him beat three defenders before rifling his shot past Barry who could only get a glove to the ball on 52 minutes. 

Elano, who also scored in Brazil’s 2-1 win over North Korea in their opening game, then got in on the act when Kaka squared the ball from the left wing for the Galatasaray midfielder to score after an hour. 

But within minutes he had to leave the field after a lunging studs-up challenge from an Ivorian. 

Kaita then picked up a yellow card for a dangerous tackle which clipped the ankle of Michel Bastos on 75 minutes. 

Drogba got on the score sheet when he beat Brazil’s offside trap for an unmarked header which rolled past goalkeeper Julio Cesar with 11 minutes left. 

The game turned bad-tempered as Kaka picked up a yellow card for a push on Yaya Toure on 85 minutes. 

It turned into a red three minutes later when Keita ran into the Brazilian, who was looking the other way, and then crumpled to the floor, clutching his face, and the referee saw it as a foul.

Brazil face Portugal in their final group match on Friday in Durban, while the Ivory Coast face North Korea in Nelspruit at the same time.