itsbeautifuloutside

Japan v Ivory Coast

Brasilia, 15th June 2014

Match Report

I missed this game too. I was home, but as it kicked off at 2 am, and I’d arrived back from London after 12:30, and had to be up and at the Sports Centre for 8 am, I was in bed. Even if I had tried to watch it I’d have been asleep before the end of the anthems. So this report is written from the highlights show, and the BBC website.

Ivory Coast are appearing in their third World Cup and have never gone past the group stage in the other three, but showed that they may do better this time with a decent performance.

Japan took the lead though, with a goal from Honda after 16 minutes, and a pretty good strike it was as well. I used to like Honda, with his blond hair and familiar name, but apparently he has been advertising McDonalds, so I’m shunning him now. Boooo.

Ivory Coast, maybe surprisingly (or maybe not, given his age), left out Drogba but it wasn’t until shortly after his introduction, in the 64th minute, that Swansea striker Bony equalised, heading in an Aurier cross.

Two minutes later, Aurier set up a second, this time scored by Gervinho, who may not have done too well at Arsenal, but has just had a pretty good season at Roma. His header squirmed past Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, who probably should have done better.

It was a shame that Japan lost, as I want Yoshida to do well, and they may well find it difficult to qualify now, but it will be interesting to see how far the Ivory Coast can go.

That’s about all I can remember I’m afraid.

I managed to get sun burnt at the Sports Centre, even though it wasn’t sunny.

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