By Matt Fortune
A simply breathtaking second-half display from Portugal ended North Korea’s interest in the World Cup finals as Carlos Queiroz’s men finally produced a passage of play worthy of their official ranking as the planet’s third best team.
Adding to Raul Meireles’ first-half strike, three goals in seven minutes from Simao, Hugo Almeida and Tiago showed a verve and ruthless efficiency not often seen at these finals.
Heading for goal: Ronaldo beats the keeper to score Portugal’s sixth
After brief respite for the demoralised Koreans, substitute Liedson added a fifth 10 minutes from time, Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed another and Tiago completed the rout with his second of the match.
It was a warning shot to Group G rivals Brazil, whom they meet on Friday to decide top spot.
The last time Portugal and North Korea met in a World Cup finals, in 1966, Goodison Park was treated to one of the greatest matches in the tournament’s history; a topsy-turvey 5-3 win for the Europeans courtesy of four goals from the great Eusebio.
Up until the second half, this afternoon’s fare barely deserved mention in the same breath.
Portugal’s toothless display in their opening draw with the Ivory Coast, while symptomatic of the first round of matches as a whole, did little to change the belief that they are one-man team.
Joy: Portugal’s Raul Meireles (far left) is mobbed after the opening goal
That man, Ronaldo, looked ill at ease during the pre-match formalities here, shuffling nervously throughout the national anthem, but within three minutes of the start had reverted to type with a confident jinking run and shot.
However the clearest two chances fell to Ricardo Carvalho early on. First, the Chelsea defender pounced on a loose ball about 15 yards out only to scoop his effort high into the damp Cape Town air. Then, having seen goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk fail to claim a corner, Carvalho clattered a header against the crossbar.
Gambit: Meireles squeezes the first past keeper Ri Myong-guk
Korea, though, continued to show more adventure than they had at any point against Brazil in their opening rubber.
Cha Jong-hyok had Eduardo desperately scrambling across goal with a vicious effort from distance in the first of a number of long-range sighters at both ends.
Pak Nam-chol was then left to rue the skidding surface when he sent a header over after the Portugal goalkeeper had pushed a low cross tamely up into the danger zone.
And the true value of his miss was accentuated minutes later when Meireles latched on to Tiago’s delightfully weighted pass and crashed the ball home.
It had been the first real lapse in concentration by the Koreans and it unsettled them for the remainder of the half.
Portugal had them on the ropes and Meireles should have had a second on the stoke of half-time but inexplicably shanked an effort wide after a mix-up inside the six-yard box.
The much-hyped Fabio Coentrao proved exactly why he has caught the eye of Europe’s elite with persistent raids down the left touchline. Simao should have converted from one such foray but instead became the latest victim of the sodden surface.
Three and easy: Almeida punishes another North Korea defensive opening
As the players took shelter in the changing rooms at the interval the rain eventually subsided.
Within seconds of the restart Tiago forced a corner with a stinging drive and at the other end Hong Yong-jo drew a low save from Eduardo. Ronaldo, too, had come out wearing his shooting boots.
Hugo’s boss: Almeida celebrates his goal
Portugal came flying out of the blocks and deservedly claimed a second with one of the most fluid moves of the tournament so far.
Almeida, anonymous in the first-half, beautifully cushioned a long ball forward on his chest, Meireles drew the attention of two defenders before taking them out of the game with an inch-perfect slide-rule pass, and Simao casually slotted home from the inside right channel.
Strange that after the rain had stopped the proverbial floodgates had opened.
Three minutes later the hugely impressive Coentrao was granted the freedom of the final third and at full pace measured a beautiful cross for Almeida to nod home. It was as clinical as it was defining; Korea were beaten and it showed.
Ronaldo sprung the offside trap all too easily and picked out former Chelsea midfielder Tiago to sidefoot home a fourth.
Cristiano soldiers on: Ronaldo celebrates ending his drought
The world’s most expensive player was now clearly enjoying himself and on 70 minutes produced a trademark thunderbolt which crashed off the frame of the goal.
Korea were in danger of being humiliated.
But they eventually found their feet once more and threatened briefly though Jong Tae-se. The man who had made headlines for his outpouring of emotion during matchday one’s anthems hit a wildly ambitious effort from an acute angle and then narrowly missed with a header.
However normal service was quickly resumed; Ri Kwang-chon’s slip allowing substitute Liedson to power in a fifth with is first touch of the ball.
There was, though, still one name missing from the scoresheet. Ronaldo had gone almost two years without finding the back of the net for his country but stopped the rot in the closing stages, exploding on to a defence splitting pass, beating the goalkeeper, albeit slightly fortuitously, and prodding home into the unguarded net.
Thiago still had time to notch his second of the game, a neatly placed header.
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