Sven-Goran Eriksson's Ivory Coast failed to progress to the knockout stages.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's Ivory Coast failed to progress to the knockout stages after only managing a 3-0 victory against a poor North Korean side at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Nelspruit.
Ivory Coast dominated the match from the start and, with the Elephants needing to score a hatful to beat Portugal to second place. it was all-out attack in the early stages.
Immediately from kick-off Yaya Toure played Kader Keita in on goal but he could only direct his shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Didier Drogba had the ball in the back of the net with a header after 11 minutes but was adjudged to be offside, but Ivory Coast didn't have to wait long for the opening goal.
In the 14th minute Yaya Toure picked the ball up 20 yards out and placed his shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to give the Elephants a deserved lead.
Two minutes later it was nearly 2-0. Koffi Ndri Romaric sent in a cross along the penalty area, which avoided everybody but clipped the outside of the post.
Twenty minutes in and it was 2-0. Drogba chested the ball down inside the penalty area and hit a thunderous shot onto the crossbar, and Romaric followed it up by slotting the ball into the empty net.
It continued to be one-way traffic and, on 38 minutes, the Elephants hit the woodwork for the third time. Kouassi Gervinho, whose pace was causing the Koreans all sorts of problems, received the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area and his shot clipped the outside of the left post.
In the second half, North Korea sat back with five in defence, content to keep the scoreline down rather than attempting to salvage a point.
The Koreans managed to frustrate Ivory Coast, with the Elephants finding it much harder to break them down.
Tae-Se Jong had a couple of decent chances for North Korea, but his lack of composure in front of goal led to him squandering both chances with only the goalkeeper to beat.
It wasn't until the 82nd minute that a third goal arrived. Arthur Boka sent in a cross from the left and Salomon Kalou got ahead of the Korean defence to slot the ball home from six yards.
It was too little too late for the Elephants as they became the fifth African nation to go out in the group stages.
Ivory Coast dominated the match from the start and, with the Elephants needing to score a hatful to beat Portugal to second place.
It was all-out attack in the early stages. Immediately from kick-off Yaya Toure played Kader Keita in on goal but he could only direct his shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Didier Drogba had the ball in the back of the net with a header after 11 minutes but was adjudged to be offside, but Ivory Coast didn't have to wait long for the opening goal.
In the 14th minute Yaya Toure picked the ball up 20 yards out and placed his shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to give the Elephants a deserved lead.
Two minutes later it was nearly 2-0. Koffi Ndri Romaric sent in a cross along the penalty area, which avoided everybody but clipped the outside of the post.Twenty minutes in and it was 2-0.
Drogba chested the ball down inside the penalty area and hit a thunderous shot onto the crossbar, and Romaric followed it up by slotting the ball into the empty net.
It continued to be one-way traffic and, on 38 minutes, the Elephants hit the woodwork for the third time.
Kouassi Gervinho, whose pace was causing the Koreans all sorts of problems, received the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area and his shot clipped the outside of the left post.
In the second half, North Korea sat back with five in defence, content to keep the scoreline down rather than attempting to salvage a point.
The Koreans managed to frustrate Ivory Coast, with the Elephants finding it much harder to break them down.
Tae-Se Jong had a couple of decent chances for North Korea, but his lack of composure in front of goal led to him squandering both chances with only the goalkeeper to beat.
It was not until the 82nd minute that a third goal arrived. Arthur Boka sent in a cross from the left and Salomon Kalou got ahead of the Korean defence to slot the ball home from six yards.
It was too little too late for the Elephants as they became the fifth African nation to go out in the group stages.
