Brazil happy with win against 'defensive' North Korea

The Koreans earned a moral victory despite their 2-1 loss but rival coach Dunga is happy considering the organised defence.

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North Korea did not get the win over Brazil they were confidently predicting before their Group G opener but they earned a moral victory by scoring against the five-times world champions on Tuesday. The North could hardly have asked for a tougher game to mark their return to the World Cup after 44 years, but their superbly organised defence thwarted Brazil time and time again before being breached twice in second half. With Portugal and Ivory Coast drawing 0-0 in the other group game, North Korea sit at the bottom of the table but coach Kim Jong-hun said his side had learned a lot from the defeat to Brazil. "Although we didn't win we gained a lot of experience and we will have a lot more confidence going into the other two group games," coach Jong-hun Kim said. "We have five days to prepare for our next match [against Portugal], we'll review our tactics and decide whether we need to be a bit more attacking or a bit more defensive." Rival coach Dunga acknowledged his Brazil lineup was not at their best despite the victory. "We are satisfied with the result," Dunga said. "But we want more, of course. We want to play better, score more goals." Brazil struggled for most of the match and was not able to create many scoring opportunities despite the difference in quality between the teams. Dunga said anxiety that came with an opening match played a role in the team's lacklustre performance, as did the opponent's defensive tactical setup. "When we play with a more offensive team we usually have more space, but against a team playing completely on defence it's harder, you have to keep insisting." "They were always perfect moving around to close out our spaces," Dunga said. "But we still were able to do enough to get the goals and the win in the second half." * Agencies