Some random observations after the first group fixtures:

Ivory Coast 0-0 Portugal: You knew going in that both teams were going to spread the ball wide; neither disappointed. Early on Cristiano Ronaldo did what he does best; took a dive on a Didier Zokora tackle that resulted in a yellow card for Zokora. Too many early yellow cards, although it is hard for me to argue Cristiano Ronaldo’s yellow due to diving and being confrontational. If there are a lot of yellows then the ref is left with no disciplinary place to go other than to book players, and he has therefore lost control of the game. More of tactical chess match in the first half than a football game. Ivorians did a better job of linking up with their forwards than Portugal (Leidson was practically invisible). Why Portugal’s leading scorer during qualifying, Simao, wasn’t on the pitch until the 56th minute is beyond me. Good combination play going forward for Ivory Coast, who sustained much better attacking quality than Portugal. When Didier Drogba made his entrance in the 66th minute the perpetual grimace on his face gave away the pain he was feeling in his broken right forearm. With 20 minutes left both sides opened things up offensively, with both sides having to repel repeated thrusts into their penalty areas. You got the feeling that the Ivory Coast’s backline was beginning to get weary, yet Portugal wasn’t really putting a sustained attack together. Neither Drogba nor Ronaldo made any impact. A surprisingly mundane match from two sides you would have expected to get after it.

Brazil 2-1 North Korea: No real surprise with this one. The magical creativity of the purveyors of “La Joga Bonita” put individual creativity with sustained combination passing to link up with the front early, while their opponents stayed back, clogged up the center and only got forward in short spurts with just a few players. Caution was the name of the game for the PDR. Very tactical rigidity in the back and through the center by the PDR; they didn’t fall for all the faints and fits and starts by Brazil. They stayed compact and immovable in the center and back; clearly the PDR was not afraid of Brazil and would not be spread thin by them. Brazil could have spread them thin if they played more down the flanks. Probably the most disciplined side in this tournament so far. Very clean game with no overt fouls so the referee didn’t have much to do. Brazil finally pushed forward on the flanks. Maicon finally got off the schneid, made a run down the right flank, and scored from an incredible angle, beating the keeper in a gap on the near post. North Korea kept their composure in the back, staying compact and disciplined, but not really doing anything to get that goal back, relinquishing ball control to the Brazilians, which of course resulted in a predictable goal; Robinho made a run into the box, waited for the PDR to collapse around him, and then kicked a through ball to Elano on the right flank, who one-timed it into the net. Clearly North Korea was getting tired, but they had enough left in the tank to get a harmless goal by Ji Yun-Nam on a breakdown in the Brazilian backline. A rather pedestrian win for a Brazilian side that should have manhandled North Korea easily. Gotta give it to the NPR; they are very well prepared for this tournament. I have no doubt that this is not being reported as a loss in the PDR.

EDITOR’S NOTE: It was reported by ESPN during the game that the few North Korean fans wearing DR garb and waving the country’s flag were not really North Korean, but rather paid Chinese actors hand-picked to portray North Koreans. Don’t you just love authoritarian totalitarian regimes?

– daveydoug