Portugal built on a lacklustre 0-0 draw with the Ivory Coast in their opening game in Group G by crushing North Korea 7-0 in the wet field at Green Point Stadium.
The Portuguese broke the deadlock on 29 minutes when Raúl Meireles latched on to a clever pass by Tiago and then slipped his shot beyond Ri Myong-Guk.
Meireles then turned into provider in the 53rd minute, with Simão pouncing on the former's lay-off and side-footing the ball through the legs of Myong-Guk.
The North Koreans were now struggling to cope with the pace of their opponents and three minutes later, Hugo Almeida headed home the third following a perfect cross from Fábio Coentrão.
The left-hand side again proved a lucrative source of chances for Portugal as Cristiano Ronaldo cut in before rolling the ball into the path of Tiago, who teased the ball home on the hour mark.
Substitute Liédson then got in on the act inside the closing 10 minutes as he smashed the ball into the back of the net with almost his first touch.
With three minutes to go, Ronaldo ended a 16-month goal drought for his country with a simple finish after the ball fell to him.
Incredibly, there was still time for Tiago to grab his second as Portugal on the brink of reaching the last 16.
Lineups:
Portugal: Eduardo; Miguel, Ricardo Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Fábio Coentrão; Tiago, Pedro Mendes, Raúl Meireles (Miguel Veloso, 70); Cristiano Ronaldo, Hugo Almeida (Liédson, 77), Simão (Duda, 73)
North Korea: Ri Myong-Guk; Cha Jong-Hyok (Nam Song-Chol, 75), Pak Chol-Jin, Ri Jun-Il, Ji Yun-Nam; Ri Kwang-Chon, Mun In-Guk (Kim Yong-Jun, 58), Pak Nam-Chol (Kim Kum-Il, 58), An Yong-Hak, Hong Yong-Jo; Jong Tae-Se
Statistics:
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The Portuguese broke the deadlock on 29 minutes when Raúl Meireles latched on to a clever pass by Tiago and then slipped his shot beyond Ri Myong-Guk.
Meireles then turned into provider in the 53rd minute, with Simão pouncing on the former's lay-off and side-footing the ball through the legs of Myong-Guk.
The North Koreans were now struggling to cope with the pace of their opponents and three minutes later, Hugo Almeida headed home the third following a perfect cross from Fábio Coentrão.
The left-hand side again proved a lucrative source of chances for Portugal as Cristiano Ronaldo cut in before rolling the ball into the path of Tiago, who teased the ball home on the hour mark.
Substitute Liédson then got in on the act inside the closing 10 minutes as he smashed the ball into the back of the net with almost his first touch.
With three minutes to go, Ronaldo ended a 16-month goal drought for his country with a simple finish after the ball fell to him.
Incredibly, there was still time for Tiago to grab his second as Portugal on the brink of reaching the last 16.
Lineups:
Portugal: Eduardo; Miguel, Ricardo Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Fábio Coentrão; Tiago, Pedro Mendes, Raúl Meireles (Miguel Veloso, 70); Cristiano Ronaldo, Hugo Almeida (Liédson, 77), Simão (Duda, 73)
North Korea: Ri Myong-Guk; Cha Jong-Hyok (Nam Song-Chol, 75), Pak Chol-Jin, Ri Jun-Il, Ji Yun-Nam; Ri Kwang-Chon, Mun In-Guk (Kim Yong-Jun, 58), Pak Nam-Chol (Kim Kum-Il, 58), An Yong-Hak, Hong Yong-Jo; Jong Tae-Se
Statistics:
| Portugal | North Korea | |
| 7 | Goals | 0 |
| 11 | Shots on target | 3 |
| 13 | Shots off target | 10 |
| 5 | Corners | 1 |
| 15 | Fouls | 5 |
| 3 | Offsides | 3 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 55 | Ball possession (%) | 45 |
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