It was simply a sickening second half of this match, simply abominable I almost shed some tears despite the fact that I am not a citizen of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Prior to the match, it was hoped and expected by neutrals as well as myself that this match would bring more surprises and drama especially after witnessing New Zealand's best ever football result ever against Italy yesterday, after Portugal's rather insipid 0-0 draw against Cote d'Ivoire after DPRK's gallant defeat against Brazil. It was simply too outrageous and too sad for the Asian side's brave and commendable journey in World Cup 2010. I, for one still could not fathom what really happened at half time in the DPRK dressing room. The Portuguese as well as everyone who supports them will staunchly argue that it was the sheer management expertize of Carlos Queiroz which inspired them to this massive victory which consigned the East Asian side to an early flight home. I am as sure as hell that something serious happened in the DPRK dressing room. But whether it was a similar case to what Tottenham's players experienced in the last match of 2005-06 season against West Ham, or whether it was because they received a stern telling off by the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il through video call or even a surprise appearance of the reclusive leader, we will not know, at least not now. One thing for sure, something abnormal was going on. The DPRK team that turned up at the start of the second half simply were not the same players as those playing in the first half.
To be fair to the Portuguese, they really played well by dominating the match. Let's not count the second half as the DPRK were simply not playing at all. They totally had no spirit at all throughout the second half and it was as good as a walkover for the Portugal as far as the second half is concerned. N the first half, Portugal really played well by dominating but the gallant Korean players simply held their line firmly, not letting their opponents to score against them. They even created quite a few chances at the other end but had no space nor time to execute a proper finish, not with their sole hope Jong Tae-Se totally shackled by Ricardo Carvalho, a huge rock in the Portugal defense. Actually, the first goal of the match was preceded by a controversial incident in which at the 27th minute, DPRK's Hong Yong-Jo was wrongly accused of offside when he was totally onside, and from the resulting free kick, Portugal scored the first goal, and arguably the killer goal of the match throught Raul Meireles. Even after the goal, all the way to the end of the first half, Portugal were not able to find the second goal, then it was half time. DPRK were still on with every chance to set up a remarkable comeback in the second half. However, the second half was truly horrible as mentioned at the beginning and I won't describe all the goals in detail as it is simply not worth it. Every goal was just like the Portuguese national team playing against an Under-12 side. It was that bad, and I am not even joking. The goals came from Miguel, Simao, H. Almeida and Tiago (from 50th to 59th minute) and from another spell of goals scored in quick succession by Liedson, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Tiago again from 80th to 87th minute.
This horrible defeat means that Portugal's last match against Brazil will be a cracker in determining which team finish at the top of the group or go through as runners-up although whether Portugal will try to win depends on Spain's performance in their two games against Honduras and Chile as both teams are likely to try their best to avoid Spain in the last 16. Basically, Portugal are 100% through to the last 16 as even if they lose against Brazil, with the massive goal difference separating Portugal and Ivory Coast, the Ivorians will need to win against DPRK by at least a whopping 9 goals. Even with the abominable performance in the second half, I am sure DPRK will want to save their faces, redeem themselves, and to go out from the World Cup with a bang by getting at least a point. Simply horrible, whatever happened at half time to the DPRK players must be serious and there's no joke at all.
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