A thoroughly dominating performance by Brazil - at one point I fully expected that the Amarelo e Verde would hang 5 goals on an Ivorian side that was once thought to be a Cup contender.
That didn’t happen, obviously, but not for lack of trying. Brazil kept attacking and attacking - and likely would’ve done it, were it not for the fact that Les Elephants turned the last 10 minutes of the match into something akin to a rugby scrum - punctuated by likely the worst dive of the tournament.
With only a few minutes left, Fadel Keita of Cote D’Ivoire got tapped lightly on the chest by Kaka’s arm. Keita then fell to the ground as if he were slain by a sniper, grabbing his face, frozen in a rictus of agony. Of course, nothing was wrong with him - but Keita’s Oscar-worthy performance caused the referee to give Kaka his second yellow card of the match, and thus be sent off.
Look, I get that Cote D’Ivoire was frustrated and angry to be losing 3-1 to Brazil. That said, there’s no excuse for their actions on the field today. You have to keep cool, man.
