- REUTERS
Brazil soccer coach Carlos Alberto Parreira (centre) talks to Ronaldo (right) and Adriano during a training session in Koenigstein on Friday. The defending champions play Australia today.

MUNICH, Germany (AP):

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Brazil get a second chance today to show they can live up to the hype surrounding their famous squad.

Brazil face Australia in Munich hoping to erase the bad impression given by their lacklustre 1-0 win over Croatia in their opening match.

"We expect to be playing much better in this next match," two-time FIFA player of the year Ronaldinho said. "We are hoping not only to win, but to play well too."

The Australians, coming off a convincing 3-1 win over Japan in their Group F opener, are calling it "the day of truth."

"We are an underdog with capital letters," Australia coach Guus Hiddink said yesterday in a news conference. "Everyone expects a big victory of the Brazilian team, but it's up to us to make the opposition. I know, I'm sure (the team) will do (that)."

LINEUP

Hiddink hasn't announced his lineup yet, but said all his players were available.

Brazil - ranked No. 1 by FIFA and favoured to win a record sixth title - will be at full strength too, with Ronaldinho, Kaka and Adriano and Ronaldo.

The much-hyped "magic quartet" will try to redeem itself from the disappointing performance against Croatia on Tuesday. Only Kaka had something to show, netting the winner and performing impressively.

"We faced some difficulties, Croatia came marking very tightly," Ronaldinho said. "We are expecting the same dif-ficulties in the next match ... we'll need to try to move around more to create more scoring chances."

The Australians liked what they saw in Brazil's debut and are hoping to take advantage of Brazil's vulnerabilities.

"Now we're going into the day of truth in the next game, which is a very attractive game of course against Brazil. The world champions, the big team, one of the biggest teams in the world," Hiddink said.

The winner of today's match in Munich will practically secure as the group winners. Japan and Croatia meet today in Nuremberg trying to keep their hopes alive.

SPECIAL ATTENTION

Parreira gave special attention to the "magic quartet" scheme during practices this week, trying to fine-tune it.

"Ronaldinho and Kaka will have to try to find little bit more," Kaka said.

Ronaldo will start after overcoming yet another health issue earlier in the week.

"It's a very important match, Australia is coming off a great campaign in the qualifiers and played well in friendlies," Parreira said. "We don't want to be caught by surprise."

Australia were first in the Oceania World Cup qualifying group, then earned their spot among the 32 nations in Germany by eliminating Uruguay in a play-off.

Parreira said the Socceroos have "exceptional physical conditioning" and some "good technical quality."

In their last warm-up match before the World Cup, Brazil earned a 4-0 win over New Zealand, an opponent picked for their similarities in style with Australia.

"We have everything to win the match, but we will need to play very seriously," Parreira said.

The Socceroos defeated Brazil 1-0 the last time the teams met, in the 2001 Confederations Cup in South Korea, when Brazil fielded second stringers. Brazil won three and drew one of the other four matches.