This past Sunday, Brazil became the second team, behind the Netherlands to qualify for the round of 16 with a win against Ivory Coast 3-1, with two goals from Luis Fabiano and one from Elano. Didier Drogba was the scorer for the African team.

The game began with some caution between the two teams. Brazil started with little projection in the sidelines and had the first option after Robinho’s shot went above the crossbar after 18 minutes of play.

Ivory Coast had a good performance during the first minutes. The team had some good options with some free play shots. Its captain, Didier Drogba, served as a talisman for his teammates, who looked for him permanently during the whole game.

However, the score was opened after a collective play by Brazil, which ended in a precise deep pass from Kaka to Luis Fabiano. He received the pass inside the area to beat goalkeeper Barry and score for Brazil. It was a great goal from “the scratch”.

After the goal, the match declined its pace and there were fewer chances to score for either team. Just an overflow on the right wing of Demel by the Africans and Robinho’s shot from outside the area were the only other dangerous plays in the first half. With these final attempts, the first half ended, 1-0 in favor of the Brazilians.

The second half started with a very different rhythm. Luis Fabiano took the ball down the right side to the rival’s area. The striker surpassed the first defender with a "hat" shot, then lowered the ball with his chest while performing another "hat" shot to surpass the second African defender. When Fabiano lowers the ball for second time with his chest, the Brazilian striker finished off this great play with a left shot and scored the second goal for Brazil. It has to be mentioned, that in the latest move, the Sevilla striker got the ball with his hand. This was not perceived at first by French referee Stephanne Lannoy.

Then the Brazilian team became loose and dropped all its might to an Ivory Coast team who did not resist.

Thus, at minute 61, Kaka made a fast play down the right sideline. The Real Madrid midfielder took his defender to the end line and sent a center pass to Elano, who won the position over the defender Tiené and added the third goal for Brazil.

The game then took an aggressive twist. Tiote strongly fouled Elano, forcing the author of the third goal to leave the pitch injured. Michel Bastos also received a strong foul by Keita. Of these two fouls that merited expulsion, the French referee sanctioned only one with a yellow card.

Ten minutes before the end, Didier Drogba scored the only goal of the Africans. The Chelsea striker received a great pass and with a header scored the discount for Ivory Coast.

At the end of the game, the Brazilian star Kaka was sent off with two yellow cards after "hitting" Keita. The African player collided with the Brazilian (who was recently admonished) and fell to the floor. The referee decided to show the red card, without weighing the simulation of the African player.

The match ended with the victory for Brazil 3-1. The “Verde-Amarela” qualified to the round of 16 with this victorty.

In the last match of Group G, Brazil will face Portugal, while Ivory Coast, with a complicated situation will play against North Korea.

About the Author

Ally White has been a prominent writer on daily 2010 South Africa World Cup reviews, sports news and sports betting industry updates for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.