Brazil vs. Ivory Coast World Cup 2010 Live Blog: Results, Scores

Good day, soccer fans (or good evening, football fans, pertaining to exactly where you are reading this from). Cody Worsham here from oil-free (so far) South Louisiana, bringing you today's match-up between the top-ranked Brazilians and Africa's Great Hope, Cote D'Ivoire.

This is one of the biggest games in the group stages so far. Brazil are looking to emerge as the favorites as the rest of the world's top teams are toppling like tipsy infants, while the Ivory Coast are looking to capitalize on one of the strongest African squads to ever accumulate at the Cup.

A draw will put the Ivorians in a strong position to advance, while a Brazil win will make advancement difficult. This group is up in the air, however, and if the Ivory Coast can win, they may just be the dark horse everyone expected in January.

Final: 3-1 Brazil over the Ivory Coast. A dominant performance on both ends for the Brazilians mixed with a bit of scrappy petulance at the end, Brazil are through as the Ivory Coast will need help from Portugal to advance. Fabiano has to be the Man of the Match, but Lucio and Juan aren't far behind, and if not for his red, Kaka could be in the running. The world's No. 1 team look set to take this Cup home, however, especially with the struggles of Italy, Spain, France, and the rest of the perennial favorites.

Full time - Dani Alves puts a free kick on target, and the whistle blows with the ensuing punt. Kaka's red card may get the highlight reels, but his two assists and a solid work from the Brazilian defense has the world's No. 1 team through to the knockout rounds. Could they face Spain there? We'll see. Good night, folks, thanks for your reads.

90'+3 - Ramires on for Robinho. Solid game for the Santos forward, whose speed on the left hurt the Ivorians throughout.

90'+2 - The Ivorians nearly score again as Keita's bouncing cut-back needs a crucial Cesar touch before it could find the head of the waiting Drogba.

89' - Drogba firing up the crowd after a Tiote cross nearly finds the net. The vuvezelas pick up, but an Ivorian corner comes to nothing.

88' - Red card for Kaka! This is unbelievable. Kaka starting up another squabble with an incidental elbow, but Kader Ketia now take the flopping cue from the Brazilians. Kaka gets a harsh second yellow and will miss against Portugal. Remember what I said about replay earlier? This is disgraceful. Keita should be banned from the next game.

86' - Tiote gets the yellow here after a minor foul on Fabino. More rolling around from the Brazilians. I'm losing respect for the side with each second.

85' - Kaka gets a yellow finally for petulance. I like him, I really do, but he's whining everytime he gets touched. Dunga is animated as well. He's really setting the temper on the pitch, and it might come to blows before all is done.

84' - Kaka on the floor again. He just doesn't look fit. He's spent more time on the than Glen Davis at a slip-n-slide.

82' - More positive offense for the Ivorians. Gervinho has been a real spark on the left since Kalou was subbed for Keita and he moved over from the right. Perhaps that's something Eriksson will consider for the final group game against North Korea.

79' - GOAL IVORY COAST!  Gervinho with a wonderful run, sets it back to Yaya Toure, whose chip in finds the head of Drogba. Perhaps too little too late, but here's a spark. 3-1 in favor of Brazil.

78' - Some wonderful stuff from Brazil here. Apparently the three goal lead is enough to let some of the tricks out of the bag, as Alves and Robinho do a little dance.

76' - A clearly frustrated Kaka and Yaya Toure get into it but shake afterward. Did I just see a Barcelona player shake the hand of a Madrid player? Incredible.

75' - Kader Keita with a high challenge on Michel Bastos. Earns him a yellow, lucky not to get a red. We've seen a lot of high challenges by the Ivorians—I wonder how many of them are intentional.

72' - Romaric on for Eboue, who was one of the better Ivorians for the most part. Quick impact for Romaric, whose first touch was a strike on target that forced a Cesar parry.

71' - Drogba's run on goal disrupted by Lucio. I think Didier would be pleased if he never had to line up against the Brazilian center back ever again.

67' - Dani Alves on for Elano, who collided with Tiote and took a nasty cleat to the shin. Elano probably shouldn't have taken his shin guards off after his goal, now that I think about it.

65' - Kaka: I apologize for my previous criticism. You are and always will be far superior than Cuauhtemoc Blanco, and your two assists only serve to show just why you are in South Africa while I am in South Louisiana.

63' - Unfortunately for CDI, I was right in predicting a Brazlian onslaught after the first goal. Dunga's men are the best in the world at exploiting any mis-positioning by a side, and as the Ivorians pushed forward, the Brazilians and Kaka have taken that space and punished the hapless Ivorian back line.

62' - GOAL!  Kaka with a wonderful run from his midfield position, received the ball down the left wing and laid a wonderful rolling pass across to Elano, who simply breezed in behind an unaware Tiene and tapped it in. 3-0 Brazil.

61' - Kaka and Robinho link up, with the former putting a solid strike on target. Barry does well to knock it away. Good build-up from Brazil. Robinho has been dangerous with the ball at his feet.

60' - Elano strikes one nicely wide. He's another player who's failed to make much impact tonight. God, it sure would be fun to see Ronaldinho out wide there.

59' - Gervinho making a quick impact, linking up with Kalou and nearly getting through on Cesar.

56' - Eboue with a forgettable shot wide. Drogba's miss may be the last good look the Ivorians get for a while as Brazil begin to settle into their defensive, possessing shape.

54' - Gervinho on for Dindane. Kader Keita should also get a run on soon if CDI want to threaten.

53' - Didier Drogba nearly cuts the lead in half with a header across Julio Cesar. Unforunately for the former, the attempt missed just wide.

51' - The French official misses not one but two handballs on Fabiano, who went one on three and made Zakora, Tiene, and Toure look like the defenders for my co-ed Sunday league side. A left-footed drive into the ground and off the hand of Barry capitalized what was probably the least Brazilian goal I have ever seen.

50' GOAL - Fabiano strikes again!

49' - Maicon down to a phantom blow. Can we please get replay in FIFA and book players for flopping? It's disgusting.

47' - There's a shot of Gervinho stretching. Why he's not on after his great play against Portugal is shocking. Side note: Is it just me or is Kaka moving like he's 37? Even Cuauhtemoc Blanco thinks Kaka looks old out there.

46' - Second half is underway. I would have expected Gervinho to come on, but no changes at half for either side. Brazil starts with the ball.

Halftime - If you have any relatives who suffer from insomnia, set them in front of this snoozer, it'll put them down quicker than a glass of Absynthe. The Brazilians lead 1-0 on a Fabiano blast, but the Sevilla start couldn't have done it without the sloppy tackling of club teammate Didier Zakora and Manchester City's Kolo Toure.

43' - Juan and Lucio aren't giving Drogba an inch. They're on him tighter than his kit.

40' - Another spell of possesion for the Ivorians, but no one seems willing to make a run from the midfield. In-swingers to Drogba seem to be the only idea for Sven's men. Oh, here's an Eboue shot that should have earned a corner. I didn't know Arsenal taught its players to take shots outside of the box.

37' - Here come the Ivorians. Looked like there could have been a handball in there, but then again the French apparently don't support that whole "don't use your hands" rule, right Ireland fans?

35' - I'm not sure where an Ivory Coast goal is going to come from. Brazil are eating possesion, and no one for the African team seems to have any ideas going forward. Still 1-0 in favor of the South Americans.

31' - Tough yellow for Tiene. Oh, look, there's Drogba, I forgot he was playing. Has he touched the ball in the last quarter-hour?

29' - Lucio fouled and flopping around like a wet sock. That's not embarassing or anything.

27' - The big question is how the Ivory Coast will adjust. They could concede two or three more if they go too far forward to get that goal.

25' - GOAL! Kaka and Fabiano link up wonderfully. Poor tackling from the Ivory Coast backline leaves a gap, and Fabiano drives it home Landon Donovan style. Kolo Toure has got to do better than that to keep Fabiano from getting in.

21' - Juan and Tiote get a talking too for a far-too-intimate embrace on Brazil's corner.

19' -  There's a Maicon run down the right. Saka Tiene is great at getting forward, but he'll be too busy with the Inter fullback to have much offensive impact.

17' - I'll give Sven this: Ivory Coast's defense looks immensely better than it did in the African Cup of Nations earlier this year before the former England manager took over. Yaya Toure is playing his more natural holding role, while Tiote is given the role as playmaker.

15' - Lucio and Drogba re-visiting their rivarly from this year's Champions League. Lucio got the better of the two the first time, but Drogba giving him some worries early on.

13' - Drogba sends a free kick over the bar back to France, where Chelsea teammate Nicolas Anelka fumbles it out of bounds and blames Domenech.

12': Emmanuel Eboue fouled by former Arsenal man Gilberto Silva. Some fun, friendly match-ups in this game. First real soild spell from Ivory Coast so far.

10': So far we don't have much attacking. Looks like both teams are content to play it around deep in the midfield and at the back without looking to get forward too much. Slow start.

5': There's the Robinho City fans know, taking a touch in the final third with the delicacy of a butcher.

3' - IC's Tiote looking more Samba than the Brazilians so far. Brazi, on the other hand, have in Lucio, Melo, and even Dunga, a side that looks more power-lifting team than Brazilian futbol.

1st minute: Didn't take long to get some zest in this game. Robinho doing in yewllow what he never seemd to be able to do in blue for City—create. Shot just over the bar.

Kickoff: Ivory Coast start us off, and we're under way.

1:29: Ivory Coast's green kits are the best of the tournament. It's like Celtic meets the NBA.

1:28: Brazil set out a lineup featuring players 1-11. I knew Dunga was organized, but that's just impressive.

1:25: With all the attacking talent on the field yet two relatively defensive, counter-minded managers, the flow of this game will be interesting to watch. I could see a slow, dull game lucky to get a goal, but Kaka, Drogba, and Fabiano could also put on a show at any moment. I'm very excited for this one.

1:22: Oh, no. Stéphane Lannoy, a Frenchman, is the official. At a World Cup where nothing French is going right, don't be surprised if we have a bad call or thirty.

1:14: Fathers, on this day honoring your work, here is my gift to you. Cherish it, because it is golden: Sit down with your kids, have a drink, enjoy the game, and show them Sven Goran Erikkson, the Ivory Coast manager, and implore them to study his life as an example of what happens when you don't listen to your daddy.

Then show them a picture of Franck Ribery and tell them that naughty children get sent to Uncle Franck's farm. Fear breeds obedience.

You're welcome.

1:01: Drogba looking good with the arm wrapped in the most controversial cast since The Stepford Wives (2004)

12:52 pm CST: The biggest pre-game headline is the inclusion of Didier Drogba in the starting lineup. Let's look at the starting 11 from each side.

Brazil:  Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Juan, Bastos, Melo, Silva, Elano, Kaka, Robinho, Fabiano

Ivory Coast: Barry, Eboue, K. Toure, Demel, Tiene, Zokora, Y. Toure, Tiote, Kalou, Drogba, Dindane

Drogba comes on at the expense of Gervinho, which is quite surprising considering the solid performance of the Lille forward against Portugal.

Notably included in the Brazil 11 is Gilberto Silva, who was questionable with a rumored ankle injury.