Though the other 2 teams in the group (Portugal and Brazil) seemed by far the more likely to progress, Cote d’Ivoire clearly wasn’t resigned to relegation. Their lively start produced 3 opportunities in the first 12 minutes of the game and culminated in Yaya Toure scoring a minute later.
His spectacular goal was fuel to their fire. With furious pace and fierce, attacking football, the “Elephants” (as they are apparently known) went at the North Koreans again in the 18th minute; the shot was denied by the post. By 20 minutes in, the score was an astonishing 2 – 0.
For a little while there, it seemed the Ivory Coast might somehow pull it off, might win with a large enough goal differential to upset the favorites and advance to the next stage. They were going for it. Never say die, never surrender.
North Korea didn’t have a convincing reply to the Ivorians’ game, but they did endeavor to plug up their defensive holes enough to avoid another embarrassing glut of goals at their expense. (They’d gone down to Portugal 7 – 0.) Despite their efforts, the final score was one to make Kim Jong Il blush. Solomon Kalou found the net 82 minutes in, a cracker of a goal that had the home-continent crowd vuvuzela-ing to high heaven. The Elephants nearly nabbed a 4th as well, only to have it ruled offside.
This was the football I’d hoped to see from Cote d’Ivoire all along. The broken arm suffered by their captain and star striker Didier Drogba just days before the start of the competition had to undercut their confidence and undermine their game plan. Yet, they rallied, holding Portugal to a draw, scoring — if not winning — against Brazil, and essentially creaming North Korea.
The Ivory Coast showed the world what heart and belief (and considerable skill) can achieve, against the odds and against the champions. They’re going home early. I hope they get a hero’s welcome.