Brazil outclasses Cote d’Ivoire, strolls into 2nd round

Brazil breezed into the second round from Group G following a 3-1 victory over Cote d’Ivoire as Luis Fabiano struck in each half on Sunday night.

Dunga’s side was up by 3-0 shortly after the hour as the Brazilians collected another three points before a crowd of 84,455 at Soccer City. Didier Drogba scored a consolation for Cote d’Ivoire, which has a point ahead of its final match against North Korea on Friday.

Man-of-the-match Luis Fabiano opened the scoring in the 25th minute before doubling the lead after 50 minutes. Elano, who had to be stretchered off midway through the second half, netted for the second straight game on 62 minutes to cap the rout.

Kaka set up the first and third goals for the Brazilians before the Real Madrid midfielder was sent off two minutes to time for an unmerited second yellow as a shoving match broke out. He will be banned for Friday’s match against Portugal.

Cote d’Ivoire coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said his players made mistakes they could not afford to make against the five-time champions.

“It’s a pity of course that we lost,” the former England manager said. “The first goal, Brazil took very well, a quick combination between Kaka and Fabiano. We tried, but they scored early, made it 2-0 and that changed a lot.

“Congratulations to Brazil, they are strong and if you do [make] a mistake against them, they are very quick to punish you, and we did make mistakes on the first and third goals.”

Kaka sent Luis Fabiano through congestion for the Sevilla striker’s first World Cup goal–similar to American Landon Donovan’s angular strike against Slovenia–as he fired into the roof of the net.

Luis Fabiano made it 2-0 with controversy on the other side of halftime, handling a long kick from goalkeeper Julio Cesar before netting into the bottom right corner.

Luis Fabiano admitted to the handball after the game.

“The ball did touch my hand before my shoulder,” he said. “But it wasn’t intentional, and it was one of the greatest goals of my career.”

The Ivorians were just never in it, even with captain Drogba back in the lineup for the first time since having had his elbow broken by Japan’s Marcus Tulio Tanaka in a pre-tournament friendly earlier this month.

Drogba beat the offside trap to pull one back in the 79th minute, but Brazil proved to be a class above Eriksson’s side.

BRAZIL: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Juan, Michel Bastos, Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Elano (Dani Alves 67), Kaka, Robinho (Ramires 93), Luis Fabiano

COTE D’IVOIRE: Barry, Demel, Toure, K. Zokora, Tiene, Y. Toure, Eboue ( Romaric 72), Tiote, Dindane (Gervinho 54), Kalou (Keita 68), Drogba Eee