Portuguese show more art without Deco

3 goals inside 10 minutes finished DPR Korea's world cup. Portugal had a slow start and Ronaldo especially spent most of the first half as a spectator. Korea set themselves up with a slightly more attacking formation than against Brazil but to little effect. Portugal went in at the break leading 1-0 but with questions still to be answered. Half-time looked like it may be Korea's saviour as they became increasingly over-run, a time to settle, regroup and then step it up in the second half. Instead they came out and conceded within 7 minutes and then 10 minutes. The second goal seemed to kill off any chance of a game and the third one came from a team with their heads down. 4-0 on the hour mark made this a comfortable game for the Portuguese and restored some pride after their feeble first outing.

Portugal will take heart from this game and go into the last tie agaisnt Brazil knowing Ivory Coast have it all to do with goal difference likely to be a decider for second place. Ronaldo had a quiet game, but got his first goal for Portugal in nearly 2 years, but started to come into it in the second half, but not before the game was already beyond doubt. It would have been nice to see him influence the game whilst it was still tight. North Korea weren't the same side from their opening game, but still gave a good account of themselves in the opening 45 minutes. Going in one down you're still in the game, but losing 3 goals in 15 minutes leaves you with an impossible task. Goals 5,6 and 7 seemed slightly cruel to a side that gave such a good account of themselves previously.

The injury to Deco may well have been a blessing in disguise, he looks like this is a tournament too far as his season at Chelsea was nothing short of disastrous. Without him in the middle and the inclusion of Tiago, Portugal looked quicker on the ball and more inventive. Deco slows play and takes that touch too many. Merieles looked a different player, and the inclusion of Simao from the start certainly helped. Whether we see Deco play again is certainly a question for Queiroz to consider, or for now he may be coming on from the bench.

DPR Korea will be going home, and with high hopes of getting something out of this game especially after Portugal looked decidedly average against the Ivory Coast. Instead they go home with mixed emotions, pride from their initial performance and disappointment with how they capitulated in game 2.