Brazil 3-1 Ivory Coast
Well well well. What a bunch of cheating scoundrels. Having seen some of the antics of Didier Drogba in the Premier League (stereotype alert) I suppose that we should not have been surprised at the reaction of Kader Keita to the accidental collision with Kaka which lead to the Brazilian's second yellow card and sending off. Furthermore, I think that the fact that neither Keita for his tackle on Felipe Melo or Cheik Tiote for his foul on Elano were sent off really does rub in just what an awful referee this match was cursed with, but then it's down to the players to show some more self control isn't it? If the threat of post match video analysis were there, I don't think that you'd get such reactions as Keita to his bumping into Kaka. "I'm sorry Mr Keita but it would appear that Mr Kaka didn't actually punch you in the face (though I'm sure he'd like to have), so you can miss the next three games for your team."
Anyway, for the record, Brazil won 3-1 without really looking that convincing. The first goal was a shot of such ferocity that 'keeper Boubacar Copa is glad that he missed it! The second looked good, but was riddled with hand balls (and Copa did miss this one) and the third was truly sublime. Drogba, that man of supreme talent, but questionable morals slipped in un-marked to score the Ivory Coast's consolation goal. It will not be a good day if they contrive to qualify from this group. That said, the alternative is Portugal but they're hardly with an unblemished record when it comes to gamesmanship.
