It's hard enough to get a victory in the World Cup. The Ivory Coast, though, must come through with a historically lopsided one over North Korea on Friday at Nelspruit and get help to have any chance of advancing out of Group G and into the knockout round.
The Ivorians have just one point through two matches following a scoreless draw with Portugal on June 15 followed by a 3-1 loss to five-time champion Brazil on Sunday. Didier Drogba scored a goal in the 79th minute that appeared to matter little at the time, but took on some importance after Portugal routed North Korea 7-0 on Monday.
"We needed to be a bit more clinical and do a better job of finishing off some of the counter-attacks we had," defender Kolo Toure said. "We've got no margin for error in our next match, we need to be more compact and put away our chances."
The Ivory Coast needs to overcome a nine-goal differential to Portugal to advance, meaning a minimal one-goal loss by Portugal would require the Ivorians to win by at least eight. In World Cup history, there have only been six matches with an 8-0 scoreline or greater, the last an 8-0 rout by Germany over Saudi Arabia during group play in 2002.
It may be too tall an order for the Ivorians, especially with Drogba still not 100 percent as he plays with a FIFA-approved cast to protect his broken right arm. Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson likely will feature Gervinho and Salomon Kalou in support of Drogba as Ivory Coast will try to go on a goal-scoring binge.
North Korea's second World Cup experience will not match the flair of the surprising 1966 run to the quarterfinals. Coach Kim Jong Hun will try to regroup the Chollima, who were only down 1-0 at halftime and created scoring chances before conceding three goals in a seven-minute span that led to their defeat and mathematical elimination from the second round.
"Tactically speaking, we fell apart and we couldn't block their attacks,'' Kim said. "It was my fault for not playing the right strategy and that is why we conceded a lot of goals.''
It will be interesting to see if Kim lets North Korea play with more offensive flair in its finale after such uneven performances by his defense. A back line that looked fairly rigid and organized in a respectable 2-1 loss to Brazil in its opener was completely exposed by Portugal and its precision passing.
It also may be the last chance for forward Tae-Se Jong to display his skills for a high-profile transfer from his Japanese club team Kawasaki Frontale to one in Europe. Jong had an assist on Yun Nam Ji's goal in the loss to Brazil but has failed to score on nine shots.
