Ivory Coast V Portugal Live Thoughts

Back once again after a brief hiatus, I could have chosen to do the Brazil game later on but I’m not as familiar with North Korean football I’m afraid, so I’m here to tell give updates and thoughts on one of the first rounds most anticipated ties – Ivory Coast V Portugal. Drogba does not play today and will be on the bench, maybe nobody signed his cast and he’s thrown a tantrum. As ever comments are welcome, and I’ll be on twitter as well @Clusks. Let’s hope we have a good game, as this first round of games is starting to seem a bit of a grind. I will be watching on ITV from England.

- The English media, especially ITV are in their element here, because it’s a chance for them to see Sven Goran Eriksson, so they can hound him a bit more. Does anyone think Sven actually really cares anymore? After what he did with Mexico and then Notts County, let’s face it, this guy loves the money. Him, Felipe Scolari and Juande Ramos should buy a small island together, I’m sure they could afford it with the pay offs they’ve received.

- I’m going to stick a little one pound wager on this I think. I’ve had a mare with most bests this tournament, but I think I’ll go for Kalou – first goal at 9/1. Decent odds, and it’s likely, I think this game could go either way!

- Wow – there’s not that many empty seats in the ground! Well a few at the front. Fifa should have given away most of the tickets to the locals in the end. Oh surprise, ITV have all their focus on Ronaldo, no doubt his every touch will be praised by them as usual. Also good call by Sven not to start Drogba, although if they’re losing he may well come on, as it would involve them probably needing to beat Brazil.

- Key Men Watch: Well there’s a little player called Cristiano Ronaldo that’s OK. But aside from him, I’ve always been a big fan of the under rated Danny. As for Ivory Coast – I’m going for the lad I ‘m backing to score first – King Solomon – Kalou!

Kick Off!

- Before we start, on the subject of wagers, North Korea are 22/1 to beat Brazil tonight. Never seen odds as high as that, but are there any takers?

5 Mins: Ivory Coast with a bit of a lively start here and are looking to use their pace against an old Portuguese back line, not much has happened though in the first five minutes of the game.

7 Mins: Ronaldo has touched the ball twice and the crowd gives a bit of a roar when he does. Zokora has got the first yellow card of the game after a clear dive from Cristiano Ronaldo. Oh my lord, Ronaldo is going to have a shot for 45 yards. Missed surprisingly.

9 Mins: ITV are keen to remind everyone that this game could decide who will finish second in group G, not sure whether or not they’re putting their faith for top spot in Brazil or North Korea though.

11 Mins: That’s what this World Cup needed! God bless you Ronaldo, you’re an arrogant so and so but at least you’ll make things exciting. A long range rifled shot at goal from 30 or so yards out see’s the Ivory Coast keeper scramble hopelessly across his goal, but the ball hits the outside of the post and goes wide. Let’s hope we see more of that from both team in this game. Drogba didn’t seem impressed with that, had a bit of a moan at his team mates from the bench.

13 Mins: Oh an there’s the other side of Ronaldo. Claiming for a hand ball and he completely stops playing while pointing at his arm to the referee. He’s rubbish.

14 Mins: Ivory Coast have a decent freekick, and without Drogba there to demand the ball, Tiene has a crack at goal. Decent curl on the ball and it’s up and over, but it’s not on target.

17 Mins: OOOO! Actually, ITV claimed that it was Kalou on the ball and I saw the player have a shot, but it turns out it was Tiote. It was fast one touch movement from the front men which saw Tiote have a dig from just outside the box, but it’s gone over the bar. Still, at least we’re seeing some positive attacking play at the World Cup.

20 Mins: There’s a tackle on Ronaldo on the edge of the box which looks like a free kick. The ref tell’s him to get up, but Ronaldo spits his dummy out and a bit of a scuffle sparks up between the teams. Ronaldo got a yellow card but I’m not sure if it was for diving or dissent. Demel has been booked too for his part in the argument.

23 Mins: The pace is going up a bit and it looks like it’s getting a bit more physical, can often result in more diving unfortunately, let’s hope it doesn’t go that way though, especially when Drogba – king of the dive – is on the bench.

24 Mins: Gervinho isn’t afraid to take on the Portugal defenders, and he excites the crowd a bit as he takes the ball on, but Paulo Ferrieira makes a good tackle. I know Boswinga is injured, but Ferrierira was Chelsea’s third choice left back or something, are there no other right backs in Portugal?

26 Mins: Considering Danny and Deco have barely got much of a touch, I think I’ve worked out Carlos Queiroz’ tactics. Give the ball to Ronaldo. If Sven would stop counting his money for one second he’ll be able to see that too. Remember when Queiroz got the Real Madrid job? He must have one hell of an agent, because he’s a pretty terrible manager from what I’ve seen.

29 Mins: Eboue is down yet nothing we given. Replay shows that Pedro Mendes made a poor tackle on the Arsenal man and it should have been a free kick. He’s up though as ITV fill up a bit more time by talking about how much they love Ronaldo. Bless them.

32 Mins: I’ve not really mentioned Kalou yet because he hasn’t really done much to suggest he will win me my bet. Ronaldo had the best shot of the half, but apart from that there hasn’t really been another clear cut chance. I wonder if Sepp Blatter is sleeping at night considering how this tournament has gone so far.

35 Mins: A through ball to Liedson just runs away from him into the hands of goal keeper Copa, or as he appears to be called “Barry”, thanks to some strong defending from Tiene. Not sure I know any other African “Barry’s”.

38 Mins: There was a through ball there by Yaya Toure that got picked off, but I got distracted as my mate has just text me to tell me Riquelme is on his way to West Ham! That’s mental. How long do you give the Hammers before they go bankrupt?

42 Mins: To Ivory Coast’s credit, they are trying to have a go, Portugal haven’t really done anything for a long time now. Ivory Coast have a corner, but it’s just gone over the head of everyone and Portugal can clear. I’m afraid to say though it’s another game that isn’t living up to its billing.

46 Mins: Just before half time, there’s the Mexican wave – the sign that the game is boring.

Half Time!

- Nothing to report really, I think everybody’s hopes went up a bit when Ronaldo hit the post, but I think the New Zealand V Slovakia game had more action than this. This reminds me of when Newcastle played Arsenal and I got a chance to see Thierry Henry play, and although I obviously wanted Newcastle to win I was quite excited to see who I considered one of the best three Premiership players of all time. He was terrible and Newcastle won.

- Some plus points though. My bet is still on, so Kalou could still win me that money, and we’ve had quite a lot of second half goals in this tournament. Also on my facebook, someone has referred to Portugal as ‘a bunch of dirty cheating pirates’. Not sure how many Portuguese Pirates we still have, but a lot of people in England have a lot of hate towards Portugal after they knocked us out of WC2006 and EC2004. I’m going to have a cup of tea, watching the kettle boil may provide a bit more excitement than this garbage.

- I wonder what’s going through the heads of the North Korean players right now.

Second Half Kick Off!

- Twitter is currently “over capacity”, I doubt it has anything to do with people talking about this game.

47 Mins: Gervinho has been trying and I respect him for that, he tried to beat his man on the left as there wasn’t many option in the middle, so blasted a shot which was parried out for a corner by Eduardo in goal for a corner.

49 Mins: Oh no, Kalou almost got on the end of that! A cross in by Dindane (the striker with a name like a siren) was almost met by the head of a diving Kalou. They’ve started more brightly, Portugal have looked VERY defensive for a long time.

51 Mins: A freekick for Portugal is wipped in by Deco, whose cross meets the head of Ricardo Carvalho but it’s gone wide. Commentator has said ‘that cross is the best thing Deco has done’. True and it was a good ball but not exactly amazing. More cries of “Deco is past it” after this I imagine. I’d like to see Portugal try 442, when Italy went to 442 last night they looked much better, maybe it could work for them as well. Drogba warming up.

54 Mins: Yaya Toure worries the Portugal defence with a great run across the park, and he passes into Kalou who side foots a shot right at the keeper when he really should be trying to drill it. His expression tells it all, he could have done better with that and won me my £10!

55 Mins: Danny is coming off – did I say under rated? Ignore that – he’s been terrible! Simao is on, which is a positive mood, trying to see how they’re going to go up top now Simao is on.

57 Mins: Simao has gone to the left hand side, Ronaldo is playing just behind Liedson up front. midfield may be less flooded now hopefully.

58 Mins: “Barry” has made a save that he managed to make more spectacular than it was. A looping header from Liedson after a cross from Deco is caught by the keeper while he flaps about all over.

59 Mins: Again Gervinho is having a go at them, and he tries to get a ball into Kalou, but his shot deflects onto the top of the net. The corner saw a decent low cross in to box, but it’s cleared up field for a Portugal counter attack. Liedson is able to head back to Ronaldo, who attempts to return the favour, but his through ball doesn’t have enough pace on it.

60 Mins: Gervinho is a god send for this tournament, and great credit that he actually wants to attack. He’s just had a header at goal that went over, but great commitment from the front man. Sven is telling his players to get forward more, I hope they’ve heard him.

- The gaffer has left a comment and like many of us I think he felt a jolt of life when Ronaldo hit his long range shot. If this ball moves about or whatever, why not just smash it more?

64 Mins: Drogba is getting his tracksuit off, good time to bring him on, Sven has made a good call here considering his injury, the ITV commentators are also full of praise for this, saying “the game needs him”.

66 Mins: PLEASE say this is the changing point in this game. Oh no – Kalou is coming off for Drogba. You’re a disgrace Sven, you’ve ruined this game. Maybe it’s time to put my wallet away for this tournament. For some reason the referee has went over to shake Drogba’s hand as he comes on. Maybe he can get an autograph and a picture after the game too. Raffy has just informed me that he didn’t shake his hand, but went to check his bandage, thanks for that one Raffy – ITV gave me the duff information about hand shaking.

- I wonder what message Sven has wrote on Drogba’s cast? “Good luck in the World Cup mate – I really need you to pull through so I can get my big fat bonus cheque”.

72 Mins: Some people have gone mental as the ball is in the net, but its disallowed. Well Drogba’s entrance was a massive anti-climax.

73 Mins: Ridiculous. Portugal have a free kick and either a ghost his laying down to trip Ronaldo up or that is a dive after Zokora touches his shoulder to which the Real Madrid man goes down.

77 Mins: This game has become so dull that the BBC feed has resorted to analysing the Brazil game that is coming up later on. Kolo Toure is down, and hopefully it’s just a bit of cramp.

81 Mins: Ronaldo has an attempt from a freekick, but it’s over the bar, despite a bit of anticipation beforehand.

82 Mins: Gervinho is off, but he gave it a decent go in another frustrating game. Galatasary’s Keita comes on to replace him, not too sure what impact he’ll be able to have with just eight minutes plus stoppage time.

84 Mins: That looked like a good chance for Ivory Coast to break, but a through ball that was meant for dindane hits Eboue, with the Arsenal defender attempting to play the ball to its original target, but Dindane was offside. Pretty much sums things up.

86 Mins: Raul Meireles is off and Ruben Amorim comes on, a player who is only in the squad because of Nani’s injury. I’d like to see a late goal from either team, but it won’t save the fact that this has been a dull and lifeless game. I don’t think we’re likely to see end-to-end action in the last game today either…

88 Mins: Eboue off, Romaric is on. I may be wrong, but I don’t think that will change much. Gervinho has been named ITV man of the match. Good call by the viewers, but it’s a shame we have a man of the match who got the award because he was the only player that tried.

91 Mins: Drogba finally gets a chance as Keita plays the ball through, but I’m not sure if he was trying to shoot or cross, as he blasts the ball across the six yard box.

93 Mins: More action in these three minutes of injury time than the entire match. Keita has a shot that hits Carvalho on the chest. Tiago had a chance to play the ball to Simao who was free on the wing, but that was blocked too. A corner for Ivory Coast here, last chance of the game!

Full Time! 0-0

- Well that is a disgrace. One more chance and what do Ivory Coast do? Attempt to keep the ball in the corner. Referee doesn’t hesitate to blow the whistle. Why not just whip it in there? It was the 94th minute of 3 minutes added time! ITV say their analysis is coming next, no doubt it will be the same as the majority of post match analysis by ITV and BBC, focusing on the lack of positive attacking play and showing how careful teams are playing. It’s a shame that the main stories from this World Cup are about vuvuzelas and the ball itself as opposed to what’s happening on the pitch. Oh well, Brazil V North Korea later that somehow has to be decent, as I can’t remember a less spectacular start to a World Cup! This has ended 0-0

- Yep, ITV have managed to work out there were two main chances in that game. Two.