| 22 June 2006 |
| JAPAN | 1-4 |
BRAZIL |
| Tamada 34 |
Ronaldo 46, 81 |
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Juninho 53 |
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Gilberto 59 |
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| Kawaguchi made two fine saves from Ronaldo,
who looked considerably more lively in this match than in the previous two. Japan's goal had a touch of the Argentina about it. From a Kawaguchi pass the ball was worked from the defence to midfield, Inamoto eventually playing it out wide to Alex, he nutmegged Juan before flicking the ball with the outside of his left foot past Cicinho, as Tamada turned he let rip with a left foot shot which flew past Dida. Ronaldo equalised in first half injury time. Cicinho headed Ronaldinho's free kick high across goal and fatty profited from some non existent marking to head into the corner. Juninho embarrassed Kawaguchi when his speculative shot from distance went through the 'keepers hands. Dida, whose kicking was excellent in this match (he must have been watching Abbondanzieri), took a back pass and picked out Gilberto, who was playing in place of that wretched dirty little cheat Bobby Carlos. Gilberto passed to Robinho, he ran upfield (taking a player with him) before giving the ball to Ronaldinho, he sent Gilberto racing clear down the left, Gilberto cut inside the box and fired past Kawaguchi. Ronaldo got his second, thus equalling Gerd Muller's record for most goals scored in World Cup matches (14) with a excellent right foot finish from the edge of the box. Attendance : 65,000 Assists : Alex, Cicinho, Gilberto, Ronaldinho, Juan |
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| CROATIA | 2-2 |
AUSTRALIA |
| Srna 2 |
Moore 39 (Pen) |
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| N Kovac 56 |
Kewell 78 |
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| Srna began a memorable match by giving
Croatia the lead with a fantastic free kick, their first goal of the tournament. The Aussies should have been awarded a penalty two minutes later when Simunic rugby tackled Viduka in the box however they got one late in the half for a sneaky handball. Moore slammed the ball straight down the middle. Kovac, or to be more precise, Kalac, restored Croatia's lead when he fumbled the midfielder's speculative shot. An amateur hour mistake which nicely brings us onto Poll who, standing right in front of the box, missed one of the most blatant handballs of the tournament in the Croatian penalty area by Tomas, who gave away the first. Fortunately for the Aussies Poll also missed Kewell standing in an offside position as he smashed in the equaliser. Simic was shown a second yellow for 'pushing' over Kewell. Poll redressed the balance by giving Emerton a second yellow for handball. Simunic was shown a second yellow for hacking down Kenney from behind but Poll forgot to send him off. After blowing for full time, Simunic exchanged words with Poll, Poll pushed him away, gave him a THIRD yellow and this time remembered to bring out the red. I have said in the past English referees are shite but this 'performance' was beyond incompetent. Attendance : 52,000 Red Cards : Simic 85 (Croatia), Emerton 87 (Australia), Simunic 93 (Croatia) Assists : Kovac (won fk), n/a, Kranjcar, Cahill |
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| 18 June 2006 |
| BRAZIL | 2-0 |
AUSTRALIA |
| Adriano 49 | ||
| Fred 89 | ||
| In the third minute Kaka' intercepted Moore's
clearance and headed the ball to Ronaldo. He bounced the ball off his chest before hooking over his head towards Kaka' and his right foot volley bounced off a post. Three of the magic quartet combined for the opener. Ronaldinho hit a pass into Ronaldo, his slow motion step-overs failed to bait two defenders so he squared to Adriano who stepped past a static Chipperfield before finding the bottom corner. Bresciano missed a glorious chance on the break five minutes later. Viduka gathered a long ball out of defence and held off Ze Roberto before chipping a ball upto Cahill on the half way line, as Lucio advanced Cahill slipped the ball down the left channel to Bresciano but having ran into the box the midfielder, who is normally so good in front of goal, hesitated allowing Ze Roberto to make an excellent recovery tackle. A bad defensive header from Bobby Carlos forced Dida off his line but after catching the ball he dropped it straight to Kewell who, having just come on a sub, missed with the goal at his mercy. Bresciano's spectacular scissor kick draw a great save from Dida. By the stage Robinho had came on Ronaldo and injected some much needed spark into a lifeless Brazil attack. Kaka' headed against the crossbar from a corner. Aloisi headed on a longball to Viduka who got a yard on his marker but Dida was quick off his line and Viduka's lob bounced onto the net. Fred scored with two minutes of coming on as a sub for Adriano. Robinho pulled down a cross from Fred and volleyed against the outside of a post, the ball rolled across goal and the dummy sucker tapped-in. There was still time for Kaka' to miss a sitter but 2-0 was harsh enough. Even though Ronaldinho has yet to come to life it's obvious Ronaldo is the teams main problem. He laid on two chances, one of which was the goal but he barely moved. The defence and midfield look fine and Robinho and Fred improve the team 100%. It's still Brazil's cup to lose. How does Brazil vs Ghana in the last 16 sound? Attendance : 66,000 Assists : Ronaldo, n/a |
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| JAPAN | 0-0 |
CROATIA |
| Mid-way through the first half Prso went down
in the box under minimal contact from Miyamoto and the ref pointed to the spot. Justice was served when Kawaguchi made a fantastic low save down to his left from Srna. Kranjcar rattled the Japanese crossbar with a shot from 20 yards. Kaji looked to play a one-two with Takahara who was standing on the edge of the box, the striker hit a gorgeous return pass, ripping open the Croatian defence, Kaji fired the ball across goal and Yanagisawa, unmarked at the back post, dragged a shot horribly wide. Worst miss of the tournament and if I was his coach I would send him home. In the last minute Takahara headed down Nakamura's corner and from 4 yards out Oguru tried to volley but the ball bounced off his chest. Typical of Japan to ruin great approach play with finishing that would embarrass most pub teams. Attendance : 41,000 Assists : n/a |
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| 13 June 2006 |
| BRAZIL | 1-0 |
CROATIA |
| Kaka' 44 | ||
| There were only two highlights in the first
half. From a short corner Ronaldinho tried to bend the ball inside a post but Pletikosa got down smartly to save. Brazil broke from a corner, Ze Roberto sprayed the ball wide to Cafu but there appeared to be no danger when he found Kaka' in traffic 25 yards from goal but the midfielder brought the ball onto his weaker left foot before bending it inside the top left corner, fantastic goal. A mistake by Juan when trying to cut out a longball allowed Prso to turn and hammer a shot at goal, Dida parried and Lucio was quick to clear before Prso got a second chance on the rebound. Kranjcar's speculative shot hit team-mate Klasnic, he turned and shot straight at Dida. Kaka' sent Cafu down the right and his excellent cross was met by Ronaldinho but he was once again denied by Pletikosa. Adriano almost scored a flattering second for the holders when trying to re-direct Robinho's wayward effort. At this point I feel asleep for only the second time in the tournament (Portugal vs Angola was the first). Kranjcar wasted a chance to earn the Croats what would have been a deserved draw with a weak header from Prso's cross. The performances of Adriano and the AWFUL, AWFUL Ronaldo especially meant Brazil effectively played with 9 men. It's a good job Ze Roberto put in the work and Emerson kept up the systematic fouling otherwise Brazil would have been in real trouble. This can be easily fixed if Parreira shows some balls and drops both forwards in favour of Fred and another midfielder, which he probably won't. Ronaldo and Adriano will score in their next two games before getting a rude awakening when they are confronted by mobile defenders and Emerson is almost certainly going to pick up another yellow card. He better do it in the next match, he doesn't want to miss the second round. Attendance : 72,000 Assist : Cafu |
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| 12 June 2006 |
| AUSTRALIA | 3-1 |
JAPAN |
| Cahill 84, 89 |
Nakamura 26 |
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| Aloisi 92 | ||
| Japan went ahead in controversial
circumstances. Takahara threw an elbow at Schwarzer's chest as he came off his line to claim a Nakamura cross and the ball trickled into the net. I'd blame the 'keeper for such a pathetic jump. As the second half wore on the Japanese should have crucified their opponents on the break but wasted numerous opportunities with abysmal shooting and terrible passing, something I've seen in the past from Japan sides in youth tournaments. Cahill, on a sub for Bresciano, equalised from close range after Kewell had a shot charged down. Almost immediately at the other end Cahill chopped down Komano in the penalty area, clear penalty but not given. To add insult to injury Cahill took a pass from fellow substitute Aloisi and, from the edge of the box, whipped the ball in off a post. Aloisi compounded Japan's misery when he danced through a dejected defence to score an injury time third. Attendance : 46,000 Assists : Komano, n/a, Aloisi, Cahill |
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