Ivory Coast make history

The first half though was a hard affair, with players from both sides flying into tackles on the slippery turf. It is true that Ivory Coast had the vast majority of the play, but to begin with a lack of incision and finishing prowess cost them dear.

After 11 minutes, in one of Serbia's first purposeful attacks, Dejan Stankovic on the halfway line floated a delightful pass over the straining necks of Cyril Domoraud and Blaise Kouassi into the path of Nikola Zigic.

The big striker showed a deft touch by controlling the ball and taking it past Ivory Coast goalkeeper Boubacar Barry with one touch before rolling it into the net for a 1-0 lead.

The West African nation came back with some purposeful play but fell victim to a defensive error once more in the 21st minute. Domoraud attempted a clearance, but the ball went straight to Sasa Ilic a few yards out and the forward made no mistake.

Referee Marco Rodriguez did not help matters with his card-happy approach to the tackles. He was, however, remarkably lenient on one occasion when Serbia defender Milan Dudic leapt high in his own penalty area and punched the ball away with both fists.

Arouna Kone was lurking behind him and would have been likely to finish the move off with a goal but the ref, having awarded the penalty, only gave Dudic a yellow card.

Aruna Dindane sent Dragoslav Jevric the wrong way from the spot and wheeled away in celebration, only to be informed that he would have to retake the kick due to encroachment in the box. Replays showed that the most guilty parties were Serbian players and so again it was a difficult decision to fathom.

Unperturbed, Dindane stepped up again and scored an identical penalty to pull a goal back for the Ivorians.

On the stroke of half-time Albert Nadj, who had only arrived as a substitute partway through the half, received his marching orders after an appalling tackle from behind on Abdulkader Keita and second yellow card.

In the second period Ivory Coast really came into their own. They dominated possession, attacked fluidly and bombarded the Serbia & Montenegro box with crosses and shots. The best of these, a 30 yarder from Blaise Kouassi on 63 minutes, struck the crossbar and bounced over.

Four minutes later the threatened equaliser came. Dindane, who had been instrumental in Ivory Coast's best moves, met a cross near the penalty spot and headed it into the far corner.

The neutrals in the magnificent Munich arena seemed almost as delighted as the African fans, such had been the majesty of the Elephants' play in difficult conditions.

Just when the game seemed to be slowing to a drawn climax, in the 84th minute Kalou struck a venomous volley towards goal and Dudic handled a second time to concede a penalty.

As Kalou lined up to take the kick, Ivorian goalkeeper Barry knelt at his post at the other end of the pitch and prayed for a first ever victory for his nation. He erupted in joy when he heard the roar as Kalou stuck the ball into the top corner beyond the reach of Jevric.

The entire Ivory Coast team and substitutes danced around the corner flag, a scene mirrored in the stands around them.

The final moments saw Serbia try in vain to get a touch on the ball as their opponents stroked it around to cheers from the crowd.

An unfortunate end to the match arrived in injury time when Domoraud was given a red card for a late tackle on substitute Savo Milosevic. He was trying to get to the ball and the tackle maybe could have been punished with a yellow.

It was the first time since 1970 that a team has come from two goals behind to win a World Cup match. The last was when Gerd Muller inspired West Germany to beat England.