North Korean coach Kim Jong Hun remains defiant after his side's 2-1 loss to superpower Brazil, saying they are still aiming to qualify for the second round.

The North Koreans, playing in their first World Cup for 44 years, fought hard to keep out the five-time world champions until Inter Milan's Maicon scored a beautiful goal ten minutes after halftime.

Midfielder Elano made it 2-0 in the 72nd minute, before Ji Yun Nam netted a consolation goal after 89 minutes to give the North Koreans some reward for their performance.

But despite not coming away with any points from their tough opening game, coach Kim is still chasing glory for his team from the secretive state.

"In order to reach our goal, we have to win our matches," Kim said.

"I can't reveal our strategy, in the next five days before the next game we are going to prepare and review it and we will decide then if we are going to attack or defend more.

"Winning is the objective, but our aim is to win through to the second round."

Kim jumped for joy when Ji scored in the final minutes.

"If you saw me being happy at our goal, it is because we showed that we are capable of scoring against the Brazilians and that is something to be proud of," he said.

For his part, Brazil coach Dunga was unimpressed.

He said there was room for improvement, but he was pleased to take three points with the Ivory Coast and Portugal yet to come.

"I believe the first match is always trying, there was a lot of nervousness and anxiety out there," said the 46-year-old Dunga, who won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil as captain.

"We all want to score and not concede any goals. I am not entirely happy with the result, we weren't passing as quickly as I would have liked. But the spirit of these players is strong and they are willing to learn."

Dunga said he was reluctant to give Kaka too much game time as he works his way back from injury and the attacking midfielder was brought off with 12 minutes left.

"We anticipated Kaka would come off, he wouldn't play the full 90 minutes, he hasn't played a full game for five months," said Dunga.

"We decided to take him off after the second goal, we wanted to use (Barcelona's Dani) Alves for his long-range shooting."

The best goal of the game was undoubtedly Maicon's 55th-minute effort which looked like a cross, but dipped around the near post at the last second on the tightest of angles to earn him the man-of-the-match award.

Maicon dedicated the goal to his wife and admitted it was an emotional moment as he choked back tears.

"I was just thinking about everything I had to go through to get here," he said.

"It was my first match in a World Cup and I had scored a goal. I was pretty emotional, I didn't cry, but I kissed my wedding ring to thank my wife for everything she has done to help me get here."

Jabulani, the official World Cup ball, has come in for fierce criticism at this tournament, but Maicon was full of praise.

"I think the ball is fantastic, it is nice and light and allowed me to score the goal," beamed the Brazilian.

The South American giants last won the World Cup in 2002, but the 29-year-old said his side's goal is to see captain Lucio lift the trophy after winning the final at Soccer City.

"It is important for us to get the win, but our objective is to keep playing well and we want to be in the final on July 11."

Brazil will next face Ivory Coast, who drew 0-0 with Portugal in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, at Johannesburg's Soccer City on Sunday.

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