Both sides ended the match with ten men on the pitch, with Albert Nadj sent off at the end of the first-half. Two minutes into the injury time, Cote d'Ivoire captain Cyrille Domoraud was also red carded for a mis-timed tackle on Savo Milosevic.

    The match was played in heavy rain and Cote d'Ivoire, who lost their first two games by identical scores of 2-1, took control butit was their European rivals who scored the first.

    Nikola Zigic scored Serbia and Montenegro's first goal at the World Cup, running off the back off Blaise Kouassi and brought down Dejan Stankovic's long pass from halfway before easily slotting home after goalkeeper Boubacar Barry went walkabout.

    After 20 minutes, Pedrag Djordevic's floated free-kick caused chaos in the Cote d'Ivoire defence and Serbia and Montenegro doubled their advantage. Cyril Domoraud directed the ball into the path of Sasa Ilic who smashed home.

    With their biggest star and skipper Didier Drogba suspended, Cote d'Ivoire had only Boka, Emmanuel Eboue, Didier Zokora, Yaya Toure and Arouna Kone to keep their spots from the team that lost to the Netherlands.

    The African Elephants made it 2-1 in the 35th minute, when Dudic handled the ball with his hand well above his head punching Boka's cross.

    The Serbia and Montenegro man was shown a yellow card and Dindane stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way and slot home. Enditem