Brazil 3-1 Ivory Coast - Kaka off as Fab Brazil Samba past Elephants

Brazil secured their place in the last 16 with a fine Luis Fabiano-inspired win over the Ivory Coast, but it came at a price.

Superstar Kaka was sent off after a very harsh second yellow card, when Kader Keita ran into the Brazilian and went down clutching his face. Replays showed Kaka did not raise his arm when the incident occured.

Earlier, the Real Madrid attacker put through Luis Fabiano to smash home a sublime strike on 25 minutes.

The Sevilla striker scored a brilliant second five minutes into the second half, albeit with a massive hint of handball in the build-up.

He "chested" the ball down on the edge of the area, before deftly flicking the ball over three defenders and volleying into the bottom corner with his left foot.

Kaka and Fabiano: differing fortunes

Barely 12 minutes later, Kaka skipped past his defender on the left flank and rolled a cross into the box, with Elano taking advantage of some shoddy defending to tap home.

The former Manchester City star then left the field on a stretcher after a nasty-looking challenge from Cheik Tiote.

A disappointing Ivory Coast finally got a breakthrough when Didier Drogba, playing barely two weeks after breaking his elbow, headed home Yaya Toure's cross with 11 minutes remaining.

The Elephants upped their game as they searched for another two goals, but in the end manager Sven-Goran Eriksson offered too little, too late in the way of changes, just as he did in his England days.

The game ended on a sour note when Kader clashed with Kaka, and tempers flared with both sets of players involved in some very unmanly tussling.

From the resulting melee, Kaka was shown a second yellow with Dunga furious on the sidelines. Replays showed exactly why, and Keita should rightly be ashamed when he sees the footage.

The sending off means Kaka will now miss the final Group G clash with Portugal, which is a shame for the fans, but at least Brazil already have qualification secured.