Brazil has already secured advancement from Group G, and this morning Portugal and North Korea will conclude the second round of group games in Cape Town, South Africa (ESPN, ESPN3.com, 7:30 a.m.).
A win today for Portugal would give them the upper hand heading into the final group game against Ivory Coast in a bid to become the second nation to qualify into the second round. Cristiano must step up to help his side unlock a tough North Korean defense.
Don't count the North Koreans out, as they managed to shut Brazil out for a half. Jong Tae-Se could leave his stamp on this World Cup with a massive performance against Portugal. A win or tie would not only be a shock, but it would also give North Korea a chance at the second round as well.
If you'll be watching the match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the match.
hey Artur, thanks for the random personal attack, say what you will, but there is no chance that Brasil wants to play Spain in the 2nd round and I am fairly certain that the coach of Portugal doesn’t either, no need to accuse me of being ignorant, also my main point was about Uruguay vs. Mexico which proved to be true today as both teams came out clearly playing to win and not to draw
Hello FroBoy…sorry, but seems like u dont know much about Europe’s History, or should i say, Portugal and Spain’s History. Nowadays we consider ourselves (I’m Portuguese) as friends and brothers. But the truth is that for us, the Portuguese, the idea of beating Spain is too great a temptation (last official game we won) !:)
For us is better to play with Spain rigth away then in, say, a semi-final or final game.
Is that really NK’s team logo? Is there some reference that I’m missing? Right now, it looks like it was done through a grade school competition, not something fitting a national team.
the latter probably, the Gerrard goal against us was not shown in England because the broadcast cut to a Hyundai commercial and yes, it’s South Korean company. Also, North Koreans may not have cars for all we know.
I am here to eat humble pie since I pimped NK to get out of this group in the 2nd position:)
But, at the risk of eating more pie, I would not be shocked if they manage to keep the score in the CIV game relatively close. They played disciplined counterattacking football against Brazil, and kept it as 1:2. For some reason, strange, admiriable, or both, they decided to go guns blazing against Portugal, and got a beating. I would expect them to play more discplined in the 3rd game and to look to redeem themselves.
I wish you were only joking :-/
Brazil and Portugal are through. Hopefully the Ivory Coast will be able to play looser against North Korea and put on a good display. It was sad to see them losing 2-0 yesterday and holding back.
why would they be advertising South Korean products that the Norks can’t even buy? or was this just dry humor that I’m missing through lack of sleep?
North Korean TV was broadcasting the game with a few second delay. Before every Portugal goal, they would cut to a Hyundai commercial…
Paul can I get and adress to ship out an order of crow “ready for the eating” to???
I’ll share mine if that makes you feel better, haven’t sennn the game but I heard he had a wake up call and played for/with the team this one time.
You are right
But I think IC scoring 9 goals against NK is more likely than Brazil scoring 5 goals agianst Portugal.
There needs to be a 10 goal differential (If Ivory Coast scores 5+ goals more than portugal in their last game, if they score 6+ more goals than Portugal, they only need a 9 goal differential). Ivory Coast does not need to score 9 goals.
And you the the US qualifying for the 2nd round of the Confed Cup was unlikely.
Considering how badly NK fell apart in this game, it wouldn’t be a total shock for North Korea to lost 5-0 in the next game.
Brazil would still have to win 5-0 over Portugal, to say that seems unlikely is an understatement.
7 goals scored, only saw 2 of them. Tis the life of watching soccer.
Did Ronaldo purposefully juggle the ball before he scored? I say yes.
Wow, what a beating. I guess now Dictator “L’il Kim” can stop watching the World Cup and proceed with his plans for “all out war” against the rest of the world. That “L’il Kim” is a laugh riot. Think I’ll overnight him a pair of elevator shoes. Does FedEx deliver to North Korea (or do they use RedEx)?
Group G:
1- Brazil: 6 points (goals: 5-2)
2- Portugal: 4 (7-0)
3- Ivory Coast: 1 (1-3)
4- North Korea: 0 (1-9)
Next games:
Brazil vs. Portugal
Ivory Coast vs. Noth korea
Brazil is in and Noth Korea is out
Ivory Coast need to score at least 9 goals and hoping for Portugal loss to have a chance at moving on.
The North Korean team’s gonna be in their own “Group of Death” when they get home.
Yeah, the Ivorians need 9 goals at this point, and a Brazil shutout.
One wonders how Kim Jong Il is going to spin this one in the Nork media. In case you didn’t know, they reported the Brazil-NK game the other day without bothering to report the final score.
you make my point for me, Mexico always makes the 2nd round but fails to advance past that, so they are even more hungry to make it far, i guarantee you they will not be playing for a draw, they are playing to avoid argentina and make a deep run
Mexico has only been to the quarter-final twice, both times on home soil. I don’t necessarily disagree with your points, especially on Brazil/Portugal, but I think Uruguay/Mexico is different because France or S. Africa could still ruin their party.
no chance that a team prefers to play spain over Chile, also no chance mexico is happy with 2nd round, they have made the second round I think in 7 of their 8 world cups, they are looking to make a run
But Chile are also a really good team, maybe as dangerous as Spain on current form. As for Mexico and Uruguay, whilst both will want to avoid Argentina, I think both will be happy just to qualify. Second Round is a good achievement for them.
depending on what happens with Spain, Brasil and Portugal might be fighting to lose, but either way, neither team will want to play spain, can’t see them playing for a draw, same thing for Uruguay and Mexico, neither wants to play Argentina, no chance they play for a draw
I think Brazil and Uruguay will play for a tie. Mexico and Portugal will try to go for the win, but they won’t risk everything for that.
Ivory Coast is screwed.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see Brazil and Portugal play out a draw, likewise Mexico and Uruguay. I’m not saying that the teams prearrange it, but I think the players just understand it. Having said that, the teams may try to win if it means avoiding a tough opponent in the next round.
only chance they have now is that Brasil pounds portugal and they pound north korea, very unlikely i would say
You know that it’s really the elevation that causes the oddities. MLS uses the ball and I’ve heard no complaints for 4 months. It’s nice that all these superstars have an agreed upon excuse for their user generated errors.
If it comes down to goal difference, Ivory Coast has to score 2 more goals than whatever Portugal scores today, to move on, providing that North Korea won’t be scoring any goal.
This could get ugly. Like communism itself, North Korea is crumbling.
Been a good run for Les Éléphants but at 4-0 they stand very little chance now
You’d imagine it will be discontinued after the WC is over. Although common sense is not one of FIFA’s best qualities…
North Korea is falling apart
Finally, Portugal are showing what they can do
Don’t mind getting up at 4:30 for games. At least I can watch a live game before going to work.
this jabulani ball is even worse when it’s raining. You only need to drop it few feet in front of the keeper and it’s almost a goal.
Interesting that Messi has completely outperformed Ronaldo so far. Portugal is a less cohesive team than Argentina IMO, but that’s when you need your superstar to step it up.
ah, you knew Portugal would score, but N. Korea is giving us a fun game, at least. Better action than most of the others so far.
Good news
This is the last game that you have to wake up early for. Especially for those who are on the west coast.