CÔTE D'IVOIRE Elephant charge flattens Japan

The Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire charged late in their Group C opener in Recife, scoring twice in two second-half minutes to overturn an early deficit against Japan. A pair of pin-point crosses from Serge Aurier created goals for Wilfried Bony and Gervinho, silencing the pro-Japan crowd at Arena Pernambuco.

Japan’s crisp, incisive passing caused Côte d'Ivoire problems early in the match. And the European-based triangle of Shinji Kagawa, Kesiuke Honda and Shinji Okazaki carved out an opener after only 16 minutes. Okazaki forced a corner with his goal-bound header on the quarter-hour, and Honda was left unmarked at the edge of the penalty area. The kick was taken short and Kagawa laid the ball on for the AC Milan ace who took two touches, one to burst into the box and the other to fire home with his left foot.