Brazil vs Ivory Coast - Preview

Brazil
v
Ivory Coast


Group G, 18:30 GMT, June 20, 2010
Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

Five-time world champions Brazil had to give a bigger effort than expected to defeat North Korea 2-1 in their opening game, but it was a performance that galvanised the team and secured three points for the Group H leaders. Brazil boss Dunga played four out-and-out attackers ahead of two holding midfielders and he is expected to do the same again against Ivory Coast.

Team Stat Comparison

	Brazil	Ivory Coast
Matches Played	1	1
Table Position	1	2
Points	3	1
Goal Difference	1	0
Goals for *	2.0	0.0
Goals against *	1.0	0.0
Last 5	W	D
Last 5 home	W	D
Last 5 away
*  Goals per match - home matches for home club and away matches for away club
Stats: Brazil | Ivory Coast

Competition Stats

	Brazil	Ivory Coast
Goals	Maicon 1
Assists	Elano 1
Yellows	Ramires 1	Didier Zokora 1
Squads: Brazil | Ivory Coast

Group Table

RK	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD	Pts
1	Brazil	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	3
2	Ivory Coast	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
3	Portugal	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
4	North Korea	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0

Top two teams qualify for the Second Round

Brazil player to watch: Kaka - The squeaky clean Brazilian arrived at the World Cup following a pretty poor first season at Real Madrid and there are still question marks over his ability to get back to his best. But team-mate Robinho is backing the former World Player of the Year to come good saying: "When Kaka plays well he can decide any game. He is very important to us."

Ivory Coast player to watch: Aruna Dindane - The striker, who spent last season on loan at Portsmouth, was one of the few bright sparks in a dull draw with Portugal and will be charged with providing the bullets to Drogba's gun. Played on the right of the front three he will almost certainly be asked to whip crosses in for Drogba and his ability to do so with accuracy could hold the key for Ivory Coast.

Key battle: Lucio v Didier Drogba - The bulldozer of a forward will provide a focal point for Ivory Coast and he will almost certainly ruffle the feathers of Brazil's cultured defenders. The only problem is that he will be up against Brazil skipper Lucio, who shackled the Chelsea striker so well when playing for Inter Milan in the Champions League. But Drogba didn't end the season as top scorer in the Premier League by backing down from a challenge. This will be a grudge match to keep an eye on.

Trivia: Brazil have won all of their five World Cup matches against African teams, keeping a clean sheet each time in the process.

Stats: Ivory Coast scored an average of 3.2 goals per game with Didier Drogba in the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, compared to 1.9 without him.

Odds: Brazil (1.66), Ivory Coast (6.00), the draw (3.60) are all on offer at Bet365. But Ivory Coast have kept eight clean sheets in their last 16 competitive matches and the Elephants to win 1-0 will get 12.00.

Prediction: This Ivory Coast team are hailed as the most talented African side since the 1990 Cameroon side that reached the quarter-finals, but they will really have to pull out all the stops to beat Dunga's organised Brazil so the draw looks tempting.

A tight and tough game...Brazil 1-0??

For Brazil fans .. ;)