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World Cup: Brazil vs. Ivory Coast (Match Day Commentary)

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BY ADAM SERRANO

The Group of Death continues on this afternoon when the Ivory Coast faces a must win situation against five time champion Brazil (2PM EDT ABC/ESPN.COM).

Didier Drogba will start for Les Elephants tonight as they look to get a result against a Brazil side that looked beatable in their first group match against North Korea. As one of the few African sides with a chance to advance to the knockout stages, the hopes of the Ivory Coast and Africa are on the shoulders of the Ivorians tonight. The Brazilians are currently the leaders of Group G after their opening victory will look to assure their place in the second round with a victory over the Africans.

This is Adam Serrano and I will be providing you with commentary throughout this vital match. As always feel free to leave your comments, feelings and analysis in the comment section below. Enjoy the Match!

FINAL – Brazil qualify for the second round with a 3-1 victory. In what was expected to be a back and forth open match was marred by several dark moments. The headlines will go to Kaka being sent off after a clear dive by Keita, but this game featured many violent moments and a hand ball by Luis Fabiano on the game winning goal by the Brazilians. Brazil gave us some moments of brilliance in a ruthlessly efficient performance. The Ivory Coast are now long shots to qualify for the second round and will need a great deal of help to go ahead. 

That's all for me today. Remember to check by on SBI for all your World Cup needs.

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93rd Minute – Alves with a free kick that goes straight to Barry and surely this one is done now.

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93rd Minute – BRAZIL SUB: RAMIRES for Robinho

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92nd Minute – Fantastic clearance by Cesar as Ivory Coast is going for the goal now.

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91st Minute – Three minutes of stoppage.

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90th Minute – Ivory Coast pushing all their numbers forward right now. They like their chances against a 10 men Brazil side.

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88th Minute – SECOND YELLOW FOR KAKA AND A RED! Kaka with an elbow to Keita that was not overly serious. Keita with a lot of rolling on the ground and Dunga is livid. Very poor decision by Kaka to even risk being in that situation.

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86th Minute – We're getting some fighting now. An Ivorian is down and the players are chasing after Kaka.

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85th Minute -  YELLOW CARD for Kaka for a moment of petulance

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83rd Minute – The Ivory Coast are throwing numbers forward looking for that second goal. How big is that Fabiano hand ball now?

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82nd Minute – That play was set up by a beautiful run by Gervinho, who has been a revelation since coming on. He needs to be starting in their final group match against North Korea over the ineffective Kalou.

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79th Minute – Drogba beats the offside trap and scores the first goal by an African against the Brazilians in the World Cup. Can the Ivory Coast make a game of this one in the last 10 minutes?

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79th Minute – GOALLL!!!!! DIDIER DROGBA WITH THE GOAL!!!!! 3-1 NOW

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78th Minute – Who would have thought going into the last Group match that Algeria would have better odds to advance than the Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Nigeria?

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75th Minute – YELLOW CARD: Keita with a raised foot on a challenge on Bastos. Reckless play by the Africans.

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73rd Minute – Its important that the Ivorians continue to push for the goal. They're going to need goal difference if they're going to have any chance to qualify for the knock out stage.

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71st Minute – Last change coming for the Ivory Coast. Romaric, a player that I rated fairly highly coming into the tournament is coming in for Eboue.

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70th Minute – Brazil is not taking their foot off the peddle. Maicon dances around a host of Ivorian defenders and fires it into the side netting.

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68th Minute – Shameful tackle that led to Elano's substitution. The midfielder is now being helped into the dressing room. One would hope that it is merely precautionary.

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67th Minute – BRAZIL SUB: DANI ALVES FOR ELANO / IVORY COAST SUB: KEITA FOR KALOU

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65th Minute – The Ivory Coast will now face an uphill climb to qualify for the second round. It looks like African hopes fall to Ghana.

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63rd Minute – HORRIBLE defending by Tiene. Kaka with a great ball into the area to Elano who lost his defender and coolly put it in.

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62nd Minute – GOAL!!! ELANO!!! ITS CURTAINS FOR THE IVORY COAST!

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61st Minute – SAVE!! BARRY! Robinho feeds Kaka who fires a great shot that Barry saves.

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59th Minute – Nice through-ball by the Kalou but Gervinho is not fast enough to get to it. Clever thinking though by the Africans. 

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56th Minute – Ivory Coast faces a mountain of a climb now. They've given Brazil few chances but the Selecao have been murderously efficient. Can the Ivorians get back into this one.

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54th Minute – IVORY COAST SUB: GERVINHO for Dindane

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53rd Minute – NEAR MISS! Drogba gets a nice cross in, but the header goes just wide of net.

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52nd Minute – Luis Fabiano with some individual skill bringing the ball down. It looks like there may have been a hand ball there, but no protests from the Africans. It looks like Fabiano has rediscovered his South African scoring touch. Be warned.

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50th Minute – GOAL!! LUIS FABIANO!! FANTASTIC INDIVIDUAL EFFORT!

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45th Minute – And We're Back!

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HALF TIME-  The whistle blows for the half. Its been a picture perfect plan for Dunga's men. The Brazilians have not had many chances, but they have been deathly efficient with their one chance so far. Ivory Coast on the other hand has looked sloppy in the final third and Didier Drogba has been invisible for the Elephants. Expect some half time subs as the Ivorians know that they must get a positive result out of this match to have any chance to advance to the knock out stage.

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45th Minute – The Ivory Coast needs to make some changes right now. The offense has stagnated and the players are looking forward to the half time break. Look for Gervinho to come on to liven up the Elephants offense. One minute of Stoppage.

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41st Minute – Eboue takes a laser of a shot from distance and should have earned a corner.

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39th Minute – Back and forth few minutes as the Ivorians look for the equalizer. Wide open contest right now.

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33rd Minute – Ivory Coast are looking a bit tentative now. They're allowing the Brazilians to control possession and take the game to them. Not a smart idea…

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31st Minute – YELLOW CARD for Tiene. A simple challenge, but Dunga goes wild and convinces the Ref to issue a caution.

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28th Minute – A bit of comedy by Lucio. Perhaps the longest fall that I've ever seen after a clip by Tiote.

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26th Minute – Luis Fabiano seems to have heard me there. The ball deflects off Kaka and Fabiano sprints past the Ivorian defenders who inexplicably fall to the ground there and allow him a 1-1 with the keeper. The Sevilla man fires it into a tight angle and Brazil take a 1-0 lead.

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25th Minute – GOAL!!! LUIS FABIANO!! WHAT A GOAL!

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23rd Minute – Fabiano is not looking impressive right now. He's being completely shut down by the strong defense of Kolo Toure. 

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21st Minute – Dreadful corner by Brazil that falls right into the hands of the Ivorian keeper Barry.

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20th Minute – Maicon with a clever if not lucky run that the Ivory coast needs to clear for a corner.

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19th Minute – Sloppy Corner by the Brazilians. They get two chances one by Silva and the other by Robinho but both efforts are off balance and poor.

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18th Minute – Brazil earns a corner off a play by Maicon.

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17th Minute – Ivory Coast dominating the possession right now. They're creating some opportunities but have not had a real chance on goal just yet.

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15th Minute – Great keeping by Cesar right there who punches it out and ends the risk.

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14th Minute – Drogba with a bit of theatrics and the Elephants earn another dangerous free kick.

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13rd Minute – Drogba takes a shot, but the shot goes way over the bar. A little too much on that one.

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12nd Minute – Dangerous spot for a free kick for the Ivorians.

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7th Minute – The Ivory Coast doing a great job of pushing the Brazilians off the ball early, but they continue to lose the ball in the final third.

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6th Minute – Elano gets Brazil in a dangerous position, but a poor touch nearly leads to an Ivory Coast break. Poor touch by a Brazilian? shocking.

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5th Minute – Big fan of those green and white Ivory Coast jerseys. I'm a big fan of the orange strip but those green ones are just sharp.

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3rd Minute – The Brazilians have never lost to an African side and have never conceded a goal either, but they've never faced off against the Ivory Coast and Didier Drgoba.

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1st Minute – Robinho shows some flair right there taking the ball himself but his shot is fired just over the net of Barry. Nearly a dream start for the Brazilians.

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1st Minute – Here We Go!

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PREGAME: Powerful scene as Didier Drogba sings the Ivorian anthem with passion and what it appears are tears in his eyes. Amazing.

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PREGAME:  The teams are on the field and the anthems are about to be played. If you're following along, let me hear from you and who you're supporting today.

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PREGAME: The key for the Ivorians today will depend on if the Africans can stop the overlapping runs of Maicon. Should the Ivory Coast make Maicon ineffective, it may be possible for them to pull out the result here.

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PREGAME: For all those following along, lets hear your predictions? Can the Ivory Coast get the victory or does Brazil have too much talent for the Africans?

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PREGAME: Drogba will be in the starting line up for the Ivory Coast. The nation will need him to have a big game. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Gervinho is left on the bench. Expect the Ivorian midfielder to come on late.

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PREGAME: Here are the Line-Ups

BRAZIL:

——————–Fabiano———————

–Robinho———-Kaka———–Elano——–

—-Melo—————————Silva——-

–Bastos—–Juan—–Lucio—–Maicon——

———————Cesar————————–

IVORY COAST:

—Drogba———-Kalou————Dindane—–

—Tiote————Y. Toure———–Eboue——

—Tiene—–Zokora—–K. Toure—–Demel——

———————Barry—————————-

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