Johannesburg: Maicon produced an astonishing goal out of the blue to set Brazil on their way to a 2-1 win over a stubborn North Korea and spare their blushes after a shockingly bad first-half performance Tuesday.
The full back ran onto Elano's pass and somehow managed to blast his shot into the net from the acutest of angles in the 55th minute of the Group G match before Elano added another 17 minutes later.
But there was still time for the North Koreans' Ji Yun-nam to stun the Brazilians, going past two players and crashing home a left-foot drive in the 89th minute to set up a nervy finish for the South Americans.
Image:Maicon celebrates after scoring Brazil's opening goal aginst North Korea
Text: Reuters
Images: AP
