WORLD CUP 2010 - Brazil 2 North Korea 1:BRAZIL, BRAZIL: 11 yellow shirts, the beautiful game in motion, goals that are feats of poetry as much as athleticism and in the stands legions of beauties transported straight from the sands of the Copacabana.
Not on this night. Not on a Baltic night in Johannesburg where, at half-time, the booing from the shivering crowd drowned out the baseline drone of the vuvuzela.
The favourites won but they did not look unbeatable. It required something sensational from the World Cup aristocrats to warm the blood of those gathered in the gorgeous, retro stadium here in the fading Doornfontein area of the city and it was slow in coming.
The early exhibit of mesmerising footwork from Robinho indicated that somewhere in the back of Brazilian minds existed the obligation to entertain and delight, but although there were several wonderful flicks and back-heels, the overall performance did not convince.
Korea were very much the visitors in a yellow-bedecked Ellis Park and yet their team looked comfortable from the first whistle. Korea approached this game in the perfect spirit. They played the ball on the ground, they took the famed yellow shirts on and they displayed a ken of their own in their spatial awareness and the fearless way with which they at least tried to play football against the country whose style and ability is the brightest jewel in this tournament.
Mun In-guk’s speculative chip on Oscar Cesar from just inside the half-way line might have been over-hit, but it was symbolic of the audacious frame of mind which the Koreans brought.
They were locked into a defensive unit for much of the game, but when they broke forward it was with purpose and intent, led by Jong Tae-se, who made a terrific target man and hit the first accurate strike of the night, a low strike which Cesar gathered with ease.
The first goal came as a relief to the Brazilians and it came not from any of their illustrious frontmen but from a deft strike by right-back Maicon. All night, the Brazilian back line had been pushing forward and when Maicon, tearing onto a perfectly placed ball on the edge of the Korean penalty area, spied goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk had left a gap between himself and his near post, he fired first time and with perfect accuracy. The anguish on Ri’s face made it clear he knew he had committed a grievous error.
It was a timely goal because prior to that the Brazilians had been confined to speculative thumps from distance which – in keeping with the form line of this World Cup – drifted high and terribly off course.
It also took the heat off the favourites and for the last 40 minutes they were able to explore the Korean weaknesses more boldly.
But there were signs of fallibility here. When Robinho played a casual cross-field ball which ran behind Elano and out of play on the far side of the pitch, the midfielder stared after the ball as though some insult had been committed. Implicit in the exchange was the sense that the Brazilians expected the evening to go their way without much difficulty.
In the 72nd minute, Robinho apologised with a wonderful low pass which dissected the Korean defence and was finished deftly by Elano. He celebrated and then left the field: his number had already been called by Carlos Dunga, who replaced him with Dani Alves, bolstering the defence the key priority.
But the persistence of the Koreans never dimmed and in the 89th minute their bravery was rewarded when Ji stunned the Brazilian defence with a fearless run through their box and a delightful strike on Cesar’s far post. Faint cheers from their few fans rang out in the stadium.
The Brazilians held out for the win and nobody swapped jerseys afterwards. It was just too cold.
SUBSTITUTES:Dani Alves for Elano (73 mins), Nilmar for Kaka (78 mins), Ramires for Melo (84 mins)
SCORERS:Maicon (55 mins), Elano (72)
BOOKED:Ramires
REFEREE:Viktor Kassai (Hungary).
ATTENDANCE: 54,331.
