JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – NUMBER one football team in the world Brazil wormed their way through a tenacious defensive effort by Korea DPR yesterday (June 15) to win 2-1 and take the top spot in Group G.
Few would have predicted the result of the match as being as close as it was considering Korea came into the match on a series of eight straight defeats.
While Brazil controlled most of the action in the first half of the match, Korea concentrated its efforts on defense and was quite successful at preventing the South American favorites from getting within striking range.
Brazil was mostly forced to take their shots from a distance, though one long strike from Michel Bastos barely sailed over the crossbar as his side continued to press the advantage in the early going.
At the end of the scoreless first half, it was apparent that Brazil would need to play a more aggressive passing game in the second if they were to pierce the Korea backfield. Defender Maicon Douglas Sisenando finally broke free in minute 55 with a spritely surge to pick up a long pass in the penalty area and rip a rocket past Korean goalkeeper Ri Myong-Guk to make it 1-0.
With Korea’s hopes for a draw snatched away, the side began to play an attacking formation, but Brazil only benefited from the opening of the defensive line in minute 72 when Elano easily beat Korea again on a well-placed pass from Robinho to increase the margin by one more.
Korea never gave up despite being outgunned and trailing by two goals in the final minutes of the match. It was not until minute 89 that striker Ji Yun Nam broke through the line and opened an opportunity, making it good to give Korea their first goal in a FIFA World Cup in nearly a half-century.
Looking ahead, Brazil said they were hoping to improve before their next match against Ivory Coast.
“We will have to play better in the second match. We know it's going to be a lot harder,” Robinho said. “We know that Ivory Coast has a very good team.”
When asked about the lack of a dominant showing from Brazil, the side largely dismissed it as first match jitters and said that they will show a marked improvement for the remainder of the tournament.
Yesterday’s matches also saw Ivory Coast drawing with Portugal 0-0 and Slovakia proving an even 1-1 match for New Zealand.
