Didier Drogba and his Ivory Coast teammates didn't get the goals they needed Friday and were eliminated from the World Cup despite a 3-0 win over North Korea in their last Group G match.
The Ivorians needed a massive win combined with a loss for Portugal in the other group match to have any chance of advancing to the round of 16. But the Portuguese held Brazil to a 0-0 draw and both advanced.
Ivory Coast took the lead in the 14th minute when Arthur Boka sent a low cross into the area and Yaya Toure neatly deflected it past North Korea goalkeeper Ri Yong Guk.
Koffi Romaric N'Dri hit the far post with a long-range drive from the right in the 17th, catching Ri completely off guard, but was on target with a header in the 20th after Didier Drogba's powerful drive bounced off the underside of the crossbar.
Salomon Kalou scored the final goal in the 82nd.
Only one loss - 3-1 to Brazil - from a difficult group was a reasonable result for Ivory Coast and Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was appointed coach in late March.
"I think the players were very, very good," Eriksson said. "It's a pity we have to leave, because this team is getting better and better every session. But that's life. We're out. We have to accept that."
The bigger, more muscular Ivorians didn't disappoint the more than 34,000 crowd in Nelspruit, though, finishing with a feast of attacking play against North Korea.
"If you look at the three games we played, they should be very proud of themselves and the country should be proud of them," Eriksson said.
There were large groups of Ivorians in the crowd, wearing orange shirts and dipping and swaying in unison to the beat of African drums and the constant drone of the vuvuzelas. One section, on the top tier of Mbombela Stadium, even included a mascot: a dancing white elephant, complete with long white trunk and flapping ears.
The fans came expecting goals, and Ivory Coast kept them on their feet.
Drogba headed into the net from in the 11th but had it disallowed for offside. Then the Chelsea striker passed to Gervinho in the area, only for the shot to go wide.
"Our World Cup is over today," Drogba said. "But I think we can be proud of what we did against Portugal and against Brazil - even if we lost - and today.
"It was difficult for us to go through, and I think the FIFA rankings have been respected," he said. "We are disappointed, but at the same time we cannot be too disappointed when we're in a group like this."
North Korea had few seriously threatening opportunities. Captain Hong Yong Jo hooked his free kick from 25 meters (yards) to the right in the 24th and striker Jong Tae Se's long-range right-foot shot in the 53rd was easily saved by Boubacar Barry.
"We really wanted to do well in this last match - I went into it feeling like I really needed to score a goal," Jong said. "I'm very upset that I wasn't able to do that."
Knowing Ivory Coast needed a massive swing in its goal differential to have any chance of advancing, Eriksson made four changes to his starting lineup in the pursuit of goals.
Drogba, who broke his arm on June 4 in a warmup match and had surgery before the World Cup, started his second consecutive match after being on the bench in the opening 0-0 draw with Portugal. He was wearing a green protective cast on his right arm.
Ivory Coast was never in serious danger against the North Koreans, who went into the match following a 7-0 loss to Portugal.
North Korea had a lot of history to live up to after the team from the reclusive communist nation took the world by surprise by beating Italy en route to a quarterfinal loss to Portugal in 1966.
"I believe we had two good results," North Korea coach Kim Jong Hun said. "It has laid the foundation for us to grow in the future. So this has been a very useful experience for us. Up until the last minute of the match, they really put in all their effort."
Lineups:
North Korea: Ri Myong Guk, Cha Jong Hyok, Ri Jun Il, Pak Nam Chol, Ri Kwang Chon, Ji Yun Nam, Jong Tae Se, Hong Yong Jo, Mun In Guk (Choe Kum Chol, 67), Pak Chol Jin, An Yong Hak.
Ivory Coast: Boubacar Barry, Arthur Boka, Kolo Toure, Didier Zokora, Ismael Tiote, Gervinho (Aruna Dindane, 64), Didier Drogba, Koffi Romaric N'Dri (Seydou Doumbia, 79), Kader Keita (Salomon Kalou, 64), Yaya Toure, Emmanuel Eboue.
