Group F - Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Japan.

[Mr-Cricket]

Ronaldo fizzes one just over the bar.

All it takes is one chance.

[sabbir ahmad]

Where are Brasil's diffender???????

[Mr-Cricket]

Ronaldo Off
Robinho On

Had about one shot for the match. Can't remember him actually bothering to run, at all. Had a shocker.

Croatia piling on the pressure.

[Mr-Cricket]

Adriano should have sealed it there.

Though they didn't deserve to.

They've been woefull.

[Miraz]

Croatia is plain unlucky. They should have been leading by two to three goals.

Poor poor football by Brazil, at the moment.

[sabbir ahmad]

Croatia need a good finisher and they miss their stricker Nico Kovac

[sabbir ahmad]

Bed luck for Croatia And good luck:p for Brasil

[Mr-Cricket]

1 Full Time - Olympiastadion Brazil 1 - 0 Croatia Kaká (44) Game 11 0

[Mr-Cricket]

A very unconvincing display from the Brazilians.

They played within themselves for most of the match.

Credit to Croatia for their tight defending througout.

Only one blemish on an otherwise great team performance.

Brazil resorted to taking cute pot shots from outside the box.

They're a bunch of crowd pleasers.

As the commentator said "its like watching the Harlem Globetrotters play".

Lets hope Brazil don't suddenly come good in time for the Australia match.

All in all, Croatia was by far the more entertaining team tonight.

A good contest, nonetheless.

I can't decide whether this is good or bad news for the Socceroos.

[ialbd]

Brazil looked a bit rusty, it was hard to find ronaldinho on the field and not to mention ronaldo (whom I noticed when he was getting substituted). kaka & robinho played well, and the most experienced wingers cafu & carlos performed as expected.

Adrianor chorbi bere gese dekhi aro, ronaldor shathe eto ghurle ar ki hobe....

and Dida will be the forgotten hero of the match...
________
Ford excursion specifications

[Spitfire_x86]

Ronaldo was totally useless today, and Adriano missed a great chance. Their defence didn't look so good either.

[Mr-Cricket]

Group F
	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD	P
Australia	1	1	0	0	3	1	2	3
Brazil	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	3
Croatia	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0
Japan	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0

Australia, for the moment, has topped Group F.

Oleee, Ole, Ole, Ole! Aussie! Aussie!

[Mr-Cricket]

Samba stars out of step
By Toby Forage
Fox Sports editor
June 14, 2006

Brazil 1 Croatia 0
AUSTRALIA may feel confident it can beat Brazil, let alone earn a draw, after the world champion laboured to a 1-0 victory against a stubborn Croatia this morning (AEST).

Kaka ... hugged by captain Cafu after his strike. Pic: Agence France-Presse

A superb goal just before half-time from AC Milan superstar Kaka was all that separated the two sides at the final whistle, and Croatia might even have forced an upset had its strikers had their radars working better.

Kaka speared his shot into the top left corner from outside the box after a lay-off from his captain, Cafu, on 44 minutes.

It was a wonderful strike from the 24-year-old midfield player, enhancing the belief that he, and not teammate Ronaldinho, will be the brightest star of Germany 2006.

Kaka appeared to have an eternity to size up the target and pick his spot, looking up at the goal before sending a perfectly aimed shot past Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.

Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira elected to pick Kaka with his three other attack-minded superstars - Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Adriano - and the decision appeared justified as they bossed the edges of the penalty area for much of the early stages.

But in the second half, Parreira was forced to withdraw an ineffective Ronaldo, and the questions about the Real Madrid striker's fitness are likely to continue after another lacklustre display.

Adriano was also very quiet, tending to sit back in the midfield rather than put pressure on Croatia's back three.

Robinho, Ronaldo's clubmate at the Spanish giant, replaced him on 69 minutes and made an immediate impact within minutes of his introduction when he stabbed a close-range shot just wide of the target.

He gave Brazil more urgency up front than Ronaldo had, and Parreira may have a tough decision to make for the Australia game in less than a week's time.

While Ronaldo needs just one more goal to surpass Pele as Brazil's top World Cup goalscorer, the coach could leave him on the sidelines for the Australia game, and perhaps increase the striker's hunger for a goal.

"The challenge is not only the first game," Parreira said after the win.

"In addition to the fact that the team hasn't played a lot together, we faced an adversary that was good and marking very well, with energy.

"I think the game was balanced, we had more shots on goal (six to three) but we had a certain difficulty imposing our own rhythm."

Parreira, who elected to play warm-up games against an array of sub-standard club sides and second XIs, will also want to look at his defence, which began to struggle as the match moved deeper into the second half.

Even goalscorer Kaka could work that out.

"The win is important, but we lacked mobility and have to straighten things out at the back," he said.

Goalkeeper Dida, who had not a single save to make in the first half, was forced into several stops as Croatia began to create space not only on the flanks but also around the edges and just inside the penalty area.

Ivan Klasnic came closest on 54 minutes when he struck a shot from the edge of the box on target, but it flew straight at Dida, who managed to keep it out of his net.

Just prior to that, Rangers striker Dado Prso also forced the AC Milan keeper into a sharp save.

At the other end, Ronaldinho had arguably the best chance of the entire 90 minutes when he met a pinpoint right-wing cross from Cafu.

But despite being unmarked, the Barcelona man failed to direct his header downwards in accordance with every coaching manual's advice, and Pletikosa was able to make a diving stop to his left.

As it turned out, it mattered not as the match petered out with Croatia out of ideas and energy by the game's end. Brazil has now won a record eight straight matches at the World Cup finals, its seventh being the victory over this tournament's host Germany in the 2002 final.

If Australia is confident it can break down Brazil's defence, it now knows it will also need to sharpen up its own if it wants to beat not only the world champion, but Croatia as well.

The unpredictable Europeans did enough to suggest they could cause Guus Hiddink's men some serious problems, particularly out wide where the Socceroos failed to keep Japan at bay for large parts of the Group F opener.

Croatia coach Zlatko Krancjar also insisted that his team could still make it through to the next round.

"Brazil made a goal from just the one chance. This defeat won't stop us from going further," he insisted.

"But they have fantastic players in their side with the likes of Kaka."

One can only imagine what Krancjar thinks of Tim Cahill and John Aloisi, whose goals have left Australia unthinkably at the top of Group F after the first round of matches.

The Socceroos, whose dramatic 3-1 win over Japan yesterday has the nation in a football frenzy, plays Croatia in its final first round match on June 23 at 5am.

They play Brazil in Munich on Monday at 2am (AEST).

---

BRAZIL 1 (Kaka 44)
CROATIA 0
Referee: Benito Archundia (Mex)
Crowd: 72,000 at the Olympic Stadium, Berlin.


FOX SPORTS

[Ejaj]

Well. its true.. Brazil's game was not upto mark. But, thinking about Australia beating Brazil.. is just too much. Brazil will pick up their game as tournament progresses.. and Next match will start to show that. Australia wasnt that great.. except last 15 mins of the game. And. this Croatia.. is a hell of a team and I knew this even before the world cup began. Austraila will be beaten comprehensively at the hands of Croatia. So.. I dont see any chance for Australia to qualify for next round.

I felt pretty worried abt the combination of Strikers at front for Brazil. They always had one very good goal scorer and one speedy forward who can also score pretty much. LIke Romario/Bebeto in 94, Ronaldo/Rivaldo in 98 , Ronaldo/Ronaldinho at 2002 , but this time, both Ronaldo and Adriano are almost same type of players. They both are lethal goal scorer but have poor mobilty. I hope, Robinho comes to play more often than last 20 mins. He can certainly generate the required pace plus lethal wing attack. Just a thought, i think, Gilverto silva would make a better mid fielder than Emerson. Brazil badly miss Edmilson. He was the perfect midfielder who was equally good at attack and defense and with real good pace. Emerson, pretty slow and mostly defensive.

Anyway.. waiting for next match against Australia.

[tiger_man]

relax

brazil never performs their peak in the first few games....

i dunno....maybe its their overconfidence...last time they had the urge to win back the WC which they lost to France in 98...now its already in their hand...they just gotta keep it....

but from the experience of watching 98 world cup, i can tell that if attitude goes on, Brazil has the potential to loose this world cup big time again exactly like they lost to France....ronaldo if i can remember was totally useless in 98, in 2002 he came back, nd now he is sloppy again...

if they are gonna pick up, better now than later.....
brazil's player hardly looked like they were putting any effort in Croatia game. they still won by 1 goal.......with any other team putting brazil's effort, they wud be nailed to the ground with croatia's fanatic attacks...

[tiger_man]

also, brazil shud not give too many chance to its star players....ronaldo should be benched if does not perform against australia nd japan....not like 98 where he was given chances after chances till they lost to france in finals nd not to mention that sickness drama....

[Mr-Cricket]

Hard part to come for Socceroos
By Robert Lusetich
June 15, 2006

THE three points that Australia earned against Japan looked valuable when the Socceroos walked off Fritz-Walter Stadium in Kaiserslautern on Monday. Now, they look downright priceless.

The Socceroos' third group opponent, Croatia, countered suggestions it was a team in decline with an impressive showing in its 1-0 loss to Brazil early yesterday (AEST).

Needing probably a minimum of four points to qualify for the second round, it is clear how difficult a task confronts the Australians.

Before the hands start wringing about Brazil's performance against Croatia, consider that when you are the only nation to win five of these things, there is always the off chance you might know what you are doing.

For people who think of second place - much less making it to the second round - as an abject failure, the World Cup isn't won in the first match of the group phase.

"The truth is, for a team like this, what matters is how you finish the tournament, not how you begin it," former Czech Republic coach Jozef Venglos said.

The opening-round matches are merely about moving into the knockout stage and the Selecao took a large step in that direction with an admittedly laborious performance in Berlin yesterday.

Carlos Alberto Parreira seemed a tad bemused by the reaction to the stilted performance which leaves Australia as leader of Group F.

If Roger Federer begins a Wimbledon defence with a rusty performance but moves on, does it really make him any less likely to win the final?

"At the World Cup, it's important to start with a win because it breeds confidence," the Brazilian coach said. "It's a case of playing seven games, and tonight we've taken the first step. I think it was a tremendous result.

"Of course we can improve, but that will happen as we get more games under our belt."

In truth, Brazil eased into its championship defence, got a win it probably didn't deserve, and in the process gave striker Ronaldo, who appears to have confirmed tabloid tales of being overweight and unprepared, a chance to get some valuable match fitness.

"I didn't think we would be up to speed yet," Parreira said. "And if we want to go further in the tournament we can't afford to play flat out at this stage.

"We played at about 60 or 70 per cent, and I was perfectly happy with that."

For Guus Hiddink, though, it was a match which offered plenty of food for thought.

It showed that no matter how out-of-sync Brazil appeared, one moment of magic - yesterday it was Kaka - can be enough.

Ronaldo will linger around the penalty box - much like the classic poacher who preceded him, Romario - and not move around much against Australia, but if he is at all forgotten, those predatory instincts won't have disappeared because he is a little more round around the edges.

Kaka showed that he may be the world's most lethal attacking midfield player. He will require constant supervision and even that may not be enough. Kaka may be Brazil's most likely goalscorer, so perhaps it would prompt Hiddink to assign a player to man mark the AC Milan star.

Adriano had a relatively poor game, mostly on the flanks, reinforcing the belief that he is unable to play well when Ronaldo occupies the central position.

The Inter Milan striker was much more dangerous when Ronaldo was substituted for Robinho, who prefers to run at the box from angles.

Ronaldinho is the world footballer of the year and Brazil works everything through him, which means Vince Grella will be in for a long night in Munich.

At the back, Hiddink will be buoyed by the fact the Brazilians looked vulnerable, or at least vulnerable for them. Lucio is magnificent, seemingly always able to stretch those long legs to block shots or make crucial tackles and Dida did not put a foot wrong in goal, but the years are catching up with Cafu and Roberto Carlos on the flanks.

If Hiddink at some stage reverts to the Plan B aerial attack which worked so well in the final quarter of the game against Japan, the Brazilian flanks can be penetrated.

When Australia held the Brazilians to a scoreless draw at the 1997 Confederations Cup, the blueprint was very simple: stay disciplined and close them down.

It is a lot to ask for Australia to beat Brazil at a World Cup, but a draw is not out of the question: the Brazilians have drawn with Sweden and lost to Norway in first-round matches over the past decade.

Croatia showed yesterday that it is here to play. The Croats were better than advertised and the last thing the Socceroos need is to have to win against a bunch of fanatical players on a mission, supported by an army of fans several hundreds of thousands strong.

"I have to give credit to my players," Croatian coach Zlatko Kranjcar said.

"We've shown tonight that we're more than capable of going further in the tournament.

"We came to grips with them and didn't let them play. We were in good shape, and you need to be if you are going to compete with Brazil."

Kranjcar's team benefited from not having to play during what was another oppressively hot German afternoon but the Croats' conditioning looked impressive.

In other words, don't expect them to wilt as the Japanese did late against the Socceroos.

Croatia also seems to have changed its style under Kranjcar. Where the star-studded team of the late 1990s was more about individualistic flair, this team is very disciplined and plays very much as a unit. In other words, not unlike Australia under Hiddink.

To play the way they do successfully, the Croatians need to have indefatigable midfield players and, with Marko Babic, Jerko Leko and the captain, German-born Niko Kovac, they have ironmen.

Dado Prso is the sort of lone striker who is a constant threat, and not just directly but - again, not unlike Mark Viduka - because he does so much work off the ball to set up goalscoring chances for teammates.

If there was good news for the Socceroos it was that three key Croatian players - defensive standouts Robert Kovac and Igor Tudor as well as Niko Kovac - go into the game against Japan with yellow cards.

"Nothing is lost yet," Niko Kovac declared afterward. "We have a realistic chance of winning against Japan and Australia.

"We could be in a better position after this match, but we can still manage it because our team has a lot of quality (and) our fans are unbelievable.

"We're in a strong group and it will go down to the last match."

Australia need not fear Croatia but nevertheless, the Socceroos could do worse than mention in their prayers that it would be nice if he was wrong.

The Australian

[Mr-Cricket]

Interesting article, for those that have the time to read it. Also, it appears people have written off Japan's chances. If they can regroup to draw against Croatia, or maybe even sneak a win, it'll dent Croatia's chances of progressing.

Beware of the wounded beast.

[IanW]

Originally Posted by Mr-Cricket
Interesting article, for those that have the time to read it. Also, it appears people have written off Japan's chances. If they can regroup to draw against Croatia, or maybe even sneak a win, it'll dent Croatia's chances of progressing.

Beware of the wounded beast.

I think Japan are stuffed. Three goals in ten minutes appears to have broken them psychologically.

I just can't see them taking a point off Croatia or Brazil. Sorry.

Croatia are better than expected, and Brazil are worse.

Looks like - barring a miracle by Australia - Australia vs Croatia is going to have all the cookies on the table.

Ian Whitchurch

[Hatebreed]

Croatia are a good team so it's unwise to underestimate them, and it's too early to say Brazil are worse, especially after Paraguay-England and Poland-Germany matches, I wasn't too surprised from Croatia's performance against Brazil.

Here's an excerpt from the BBC report of Brazil v Croatia match-

"Brazil have won their last eight World Cup matches which is a new record, breaking Italy's seven successive victories between 1934 and 1950. Brazil's last defeat dates back to 1998 when they lost the final against France (3-0). They've kept a clean sheet in their last three World Cup matches. Brazil have remained unbeaten in their World Cup opener for the 16th consecutive time, winning the last seven.

Croatia suffered their first defeat since a 2-4 loss to England on 21 June 2004, during Euro 2004, a streak of 10 matches.
Six of Croatia's 11 World Cup matches have ended with a 1-0 scoreline (two wins, four defeats)."

So I'm not surprised Croatia gave Brazil a hard time in their very first match. I hope this is only the beginning, because Australia is next

[Mr-Cricket]

What I meant to say was, despite Croatia's commendable performance against the Brazilians the other night, it is still entirely possible that Japan could steal a point off of them. No one is underestimating Croatia, here. But, it is, after all, a World Cup. Anything can, and will happen. I wasn't saying Japan still had a chance of progressing. Far from it. But if Japan can steal some points off Croatia in its next game, it makes Australia's chances of progessing that much easier.

[tiger_man]

to me brazil and japan look rather out of form....

its not just the disspointing 1-0 game against croatia but also that 2-0 against new zealand in the warm up matches......a team like new zealand should have fallen for figures like 4-0 or 5-0 or sth like that against brazil..

thats why i rule out brazil winning against australia untill i actually see it....i reckon there is a high probability of scraping a draw...which is quite good enough for aussies.

[tiger_man]

Does anyone have a video of last 10 or better 8 minutes of japan vs australia match??? please post it out if u have recorded it...

[sadi]

Originally Posted by tiger_man

its not just the disspointing 1-0 game against croatia but also that 2-0 against new zealand in the warm up matches......a team like new zealand should have fallen for figures like 4-0 or 5-0 or sth like that against brazil..

Brazil won it 4-0....

[Mr-Cricket]

Originally Posted by tiger_man
Does anyone have a video of last 10 or better 8 minutes of japan vs australia match??? please post it out if u have recorded it...

I recorded the last 10 minutes of the game, as well as an extended highlights package (about 9-10 minutes). I've watched each of them about 10 times! Trouble is, they're about 80mb each. Also, try to do a bit of research before you post:

e.g.

Brazil 4-0 New Zealand
Germany 8-0 Saudi Arabia

Cheers.