Ivory Coast marauded down the field in Nelspruit once, twice, ten, seemingly a hundred times. They went direct. They went with a clinical, quick-passing build-up. They went one-on-one. They had free kicks and corner kicks, attacks from the wing and right down the gut. In the end, it just wasn't meant to be.
Les Éléphants got the win, beating North Korea 3-0 on the final matchday of Group G. But the result wasn't enough. They needed to overturn a nine-goal differential between themselves and Portugal, Group G's second place team, and needed Brazil to do their part with a win over the Portuguese in the process. Neither result came through, and the Elephants will go home ruing their missed chances after having taken four points from the group stage.
The goals came from Yaya Toure in the 14th minute and Romaric in the 20th, and a second half strike from sub Solomon Kalou in the 82nd off a perfect cross from Arthur Boka.
North Korea, meanwhile, were unable to replicate their miracle run to the quarterfinals of the 1966 World Cup. They disappeared tamely this time, losing all three of their matches and scoring just one goal in the process.
Ri Myong-Guk, North Korea's keeper, deserves some credit for keeping today's scoreline more respectable than the 7-0 thrashing they received at the hands of the Portuguese. In truth, though, it was nervy finishing - including a slew of missed chances from star man Didier Drogba - and a lack of discipline on set-pieces that truly undid Ivory Coast. When Les Éléphants weren't skying open looks over the bar, they were busy running themselves needlessly into offside positions on the numerous dangerous free kicks they won.
The result ends a colossally disappointing group stage for the African nations, who went a combined 3-5-10 and advanced only one team - Ghana - to the knockout rounds. The Black Stars will try to keep hope alive for the continent on Saturday afternoon when they face the Americans in Rustenburg.
Scoring Summary:
Ivory Coast:
Yaya Toure (14')
Romaric (20')
Kalou (82')
North Korea: Ri Myong-Guk; Ri Jun-Il, Ri Kwang-Chon, Pak Chol-Jin, Ji Yun-Nam; Cha Jong-Hyok, An Yong-Hak, Pak Nam-Chol, Mun In-Guk (Choe Kum-Chol 67'); Jong Tae-Se, Hong Yong-Jo
Cote d'Ivoire: Boubacar Barry; Didier Zokora, Kolo Toure, Arthur Boka, Emmanuel Eboue; Yaya Toure, Romaric (Seydou Doumbia 79'), Ismael Tiote; Kader Keita (Salomon Kalou 65'), Didier Drogba, Gervinho (Aruna Dindane 65')
