I was really looking forward to this one. I mean, really. It's a shame then that it really wasn't worth the wait. Like most games of the tournament so far, it was a cagey affair, with few real shots on target and plenty of scrappy and unpretty football. Sven came up against his nemesis once again. After losing to Portugal, with England, on penalty shoot-outs on two previous occasions, Sven was probably relieved to see the back of Scolari and face a Portugal side, under new boss Carlos Quieroz, with his herd of Elephants.
With talismanic captain, Drogba on the bench after his fractured arm, the Ivory Coast were keen to avoid defeat against Ronaldo's portugal. And to be honest, they needn't have worried. Seriously. The first half was pretty poor from both teams. The only thing of any real note was Ronnie's thumper of a shot which whacked the post. Other than that, it was a half with plenty of bookings, plenty of fouls and the odd dive or two. It was a real niggly game with neither side willing to venture forward. The bulk of the game was played in midfield and it just wasn't very interesting to watch, to be quite frank. Gervinho was the player who impressed the most for the Ivorians. He was willing to get up front and try something different. He had a few shots on target but ultimately they amounted to nothing. It was so frustrating to watch either team trying to break the deadlock.
We knew that Drogba was coming on long before he had even stepped on the pitch. The guy's got an incredible fanbase in SA and you could hear the vuvuzela's getting ever so louder (if you thought they had reached their decibel peak, you were wrong) and the buzz in the crowd as he warmed up. I thought he might make a big impact in what was largely a passive game. He has done so on many an occasion for Chelsea, but unfortunately could not affect the game for the remaining 25 minutes. He had a good chance towards the end, but could only managed to fire the ball across goal. All in all, a point apiece was probably the fair result, with the Ivorians getting the most out of the game. Portugal will be disappointed with not being able to pick up more than a point, in a game where the main opposition goal threat, was for the most part, on the bench. Either team will have wanted to get off to a good start in the group of death, with Brazil still left to play, but must now concentrate on their remaining two games.
So, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to notice that this World Cup has not really seen the greatest of football. In comparison to 2006, the teams (aside from the Germans) have all been really rigid, cagey, scrappy, tense and just not open. I have noticed that there have been a lot of games which have remained 0-0 for most of the match, before the odd goal wins it. Also, for the teams that have won their opening games, there have been no goals from the opposition. The recent results have all been either draws (1-1 or 0-0) or unconvincing victories (usually 1-0, but there has been two 2-0 victories...nothing more though). We haven't seen the best out of these teams yet and there hasn't been a real, exciting game as of yet (again, not including the Germany-Australia game). I think it's safe to say that the 2010 World Cup has gotten off to a quiet start; perhaps that's because the vuvuzelas seem to be making all the noise at the moment! But: Brazil and Spain are still yet to play. Surely, 5 times winners, Brazil can change the goal drought and the football we are getting...right?! We find out in half an hour...
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