Our World Cup is over today: Drogba

The Ivorians had needed to score a glut of goals to give themselves any chance of overhauling Portugal after their earlier 7-0 win over North Korea.

Goals from Yaya Toure and Ndri Romaric gave the Ivorians a 2-0 halftime lead, but it could have been five or six as North Korea struggled to cope with the one-way traffic heading towards their net.

Ivory Coast notched up a third when Kalou, on as a substitute, side footed home from close range in the 82nd minute after a great cross from Arthur Boka.

"If we were a little bit more calm maybe we could have scored more goals," said striker Didier Drogba,

"Our world cup is over today but we can be proud of what we did against Portugal and what we did against Brazil and today. We are disappointed but we can't be too disappointed when you are in a group like this with Portugal and Brazil."

He also saw good times ahead for his nation's team.

"For a country like Ivory Coast to be in the world cup twice in a row is something fantastic. We were unlucky but at the same time we are happy," he said.

Image: Ivory Coast's Salomon Kalou (L) scores a goal past North Korea's goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk during a 2010 World Cup Group G match