World Cup Final Whistle -- Brazil Overcome North Korea; Pre-Match Chaos

(ATR) They say that the World Cup does not properly begin until Brazil have kicked off, but many will point to last night’s underwhelming performance against North Korea as further proof that this year’s tournament has not yet started in earnest.

A World Cup record low of goals scored in the opening round of games was not improved by today’s three matches, which saw just five goals scored in 270 minutes of football.

Those expecting Brazil to lift the torpor will be disappointed after they made hard work of a spirited and skilful North Korean side that tired in the second half.

The mystery men proved to be quick, technically accomplished and full of guile and their counter attacks showed imagination in the first half, when they played as if their lives depended on the game. Some, pointing to the country’s totalitarian regime, would say they were.

In particular, North Korea’s Japan-born centre forward Jong Tae-Se – the so called "People’s Rooney" – showed the sort of pace and intelligent movement that would not look out of place in a more fancied team.

In many ways it’s a shame that the Koreans have been placed in the "group of death" because with a kinder draw they may have prospered. Certainly in the opening 45 minutes they showed more guile than the likes of Australia or Uruguay when they were pitted against illustrious opponents.

They faltered after Maicon’s 50th minute goal, seeming to lose heart and increasingly resorted to time-wasting and sloppy long balls. Brazil, by this stage, had also got to grips with their counter-attacking and peppered the Korean goal with shots.

On 71 minutes a slide rule pass from Robinho cut through the entire Korean defence and Elano tapped home to double Brazil’s lead.

The game looked dead and buried then, and Elano’s replacement, Nilmar, toyed with the flailing Korean defence – showing the sort of flourishes we come to expect and demand from the Brazilians.

But two minutes from the end the Korean midfielder Ji Yun-Nam collected a crossfield ball and adroitly cut inside his defender before unleashing a fierce shot into the back of Julio Cesar’s net. It was a goal any Brazil player would have been proud of scoring.

A minute later Jong found a yard of space on the edge of the Brazil "D", but shot wildly over. There was still time for him to drag a shot wide, but Brazil would not be denied. They, and the 2010 World Cup, are finally under way.

Power supply problems wreak Ellis Park chaos

Chaotic scenes were witnessed forty minutes before kick off after power supply problems saw gates locked with thousands of fans stuck outside.

Lights on the stadium concourses flickered from light to darkness as stadium managers grappled to get on top of the problem.

At least twelve turnstiles were affected by the problems, which were compounded by a lack of communication from police and stewards.

The affected turnstiles were at the foot of a 50 metre long pen, in which several thousand were backed up. Those at the rear of the crowd seemed oblivious to the problems at the front, adding to a crush.

In the absence of proper lines of communication, some fans, seeing your correspondent’s media badge, assumed me to be a stadium official and urged me to help.

"We’ve been here nearly 40 minutes, and no one is telling us what the hell is going on," said one visibly upset French fan.

"There are children here who just want to see a football game. I don’t know if they’ll get in."

As anger mounted, rumours circulated that another set of turnstiles was open, creating a potentially dangerous rush. When police tried to ease the situation by opening a gate and manually checking tickets, some supporters tried to rush the gate and gain entry and the police swiftly closed the gates once more.

By 8.05pm the power problem seemed to be resolved and gates were functioning properly. By kick off there were few empty seats– although corporate seating was less than full once more. Lighting in these suites seemed particularly affected.

Throughout most of the match stadium concourses were still in dark and one of the scoreboards was not functioning although many of the power supply problems seemed to have been resolved by the end of the match.

ByINSIDER's European correspondent James Corbett in Johannesburg(james@worldfootballinsider.com)

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