Brazil's Adriano celebrates after scoring the first goal against New Zealand during their friendly pre-World Cup match in Geneva on Sunday. - REUTERS
MUNICH, Germany (AP):
ADRIANO AND Fred scored a goal each yesterday, leading Brazil to a challenging 2-0 win over Australia in Group F of the World Cup.
Brazil secured a spot in the second round with the victory, its ninth consecutive at the World Cup. The five-time champions haven't been eliminated in the first stage since the 1966 tournament in England.
Adriano scored the first goal in the 49th minute with a left-footer from the top of the area, clearing a defender before striking a low shot past Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, dedicating the goal to his son Adriano Junior, who was born in Brazil on Friday.
"The team improved compared to the other match," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "Brazil had the patience necessary to wait for the moment to decide the match."
Fred, who replaced Adriano in the 88th, added the second goal a minute later by tapping in after a save by Schwarzer.
"This is an incredible debut in the World Cup. I couldn't have expected something like this," Fred said. "I am going to give this ball as a present to my father."
IMPROVED SLIGHTLY
Ronaldo, who improved slightly from his dismal performance in the opener, set up Adriano for his goal.
Brazil, seeking a record sixth world title, were coming off a lacklustre 1-0 win over Croatia last Tuesday, when the team's "magic quartet" was kept in check and only Kaka played well. The quartet had another below par performance yesterday, failing to spark Brazil's attack.
"The difficulties we have faced are caused not only by our kind of play, but also by the high quality of our rivals. They close very well in defence when we attack," Fred said.
It was Brazil's fourth win in six matches against the Australians. The Socceroos had defeated Brazil 1-0 the last time the teams met, in the 2001 Confederations Cup in South Korea, when Brazil fielded second stringers. Australia had also played Brazil to a 0-0 draw in 1997.
Brazil controlled possession but failed to create many dangerous scoring opportunities.
Two-time FIFA player of the year Ronaldinho was heavily marked from the beginning and couldn't get any of his moves to work.
"We tried to impose our style of play from the beginning, with a lot of velocity," Brazil midfielder Ze Roberto said. "We found the adversary playing very well defensively, maybe the weather, the heat, got in our way a little bit."
COUNTERATTACKS
Relying mostly on counterattacks, Australia were able to put some pressure on the Brazilians at times.
Captain Mark Viduka, who orchestrated the attack, nearly equalised in the 86th, but his chip over Brazil goalkeeper landed on the roof of the net.
Ronaldo was more active than in his first match, participating in more plays and creating scoring chances.
His powerful right-footer from about 20 metres (yards) in the 41st minute just missed the net.
He still was far from the Ronaldo who led Brazil to its fifth title in South Korea and Japan with eight goals in seven matches. He misplayed easy balls and was late getting to some passes.
Just before the start, Brazil's fans showed their support for the striker, loudly yelling "Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldo." The chants continued throughout the match when the striker made a play.
He was replaced by Robinho in the 72nd minute.
"There was a very big difference compared to the other match," Parreira said. "Little by little he will get his rhythm back."
Brazil captain Cafu played in his 18th World Cup match, tying a national record for World Cup appearances with Dunga and Taffarel.
With 14 victories, Cafu has already won more World Cup matches than any other Brazilian, and has played a record 148 games for his country. He has lost only 19 of those matches.
The Australians, playing in their first World Cup since 1974, entered the match hoping for an upset, which would have kept their momentum going from the 3-1 win over Japan.
