With the earlier 0-0 result in the group stage some pundits believed Australia may be able to do to Brazil what they had done to Uruguay, sneak a goal and win. Of course Brazil suffered a huge loss of face with that 0-0 result and their chance for revenge came all too soon. While they were always expected to have the run of play this time they made it count. And how.
Brazil did everything better and while Australia have developed a very effective way of playing without very much possession the Aussie players looked and played tired and without very much of the tenacity they have shown on other occasions. Brazil on the other hand had been playing very sleepily during the tournament but managed to wake up in time to thrill the largest crowd of the event and sadden every fan of Australian football. the 6-0 result adding to the 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and 0-0 results of previous encounters between the two sides, all of them in the last 10 years...infact 3 in 1988 and 2 at this tournament.
As early as the 3rd minute Bosnich, who again played very well despite the scoreline, was beaten when a Ronaldo cross found Romario's head. However the upright came to the rescue on this occasion. Bosnich then did the hard work himself after a through ball found a well timed run by Ronaldo and Bosnich beat the shot away. At the other end Dida might as well have got out a lawn chair and sipped a pina colada while watching the action.
After 11 minutes Cafu managed to get Brazil a free kick on what replays showed was no contact on him at all. This rather angered the would be tackler, Alex Tobin, and Alex wagged a finger at Cafu for his misdeed. Ronaldo took the free kick but it was held by Bosnich. Bosnich again was called into action merely a minute later when first Romario tried to shoot at goal from a very small angle and in blocking the shot away Bosnich gave Juninho the opportunity to shoot at goal and Bosnich scrambled across the face of goal to parry that shot away for a corner. Remarkably it was only the first corner of the game.
So it was that after 15 minutes Brazil finally scored on Australia when Ronaldo ran to the penalty box with the ball. He was tackled and lost the ball but remained standing as the ball rolled to the very dangerous looking Denilson. That is to say Denilson was playing very good football and not that he was wearing a skull mask. Anyway Denilson got the ball and cut it back to Ronaldo who had found some room for himself in the penalty area and he had no problem thumping the ball into the roof of the net.
Australia now faced the uncharted prospect of having to score to even remain in contention, one suspects penalties might have suited Australia, and while Harry Kewell's run and shot at goal was promising the right sort of mindset, even if the accuracy was a little wanting as the ball sailed over the bar, the red card to Viduka pretty much ended Australia's hopes. You can hardly beat Brazil with 11 players, you're going to have to be pretty good to do it with 10. Australia might be a handy side but they're not that good. Viduka had been running hard and with little success and Brazil were getting away with a few shirt tugs and such which is, sadly, part of the game but certainly something common enough for anyone to get used to it. Anyway it would seem Cafu had done something to special to irritate Viduka and as Cafu skipped away from Viduka with the ball Viduka lashed out with his foot and caught the Brazilian just under the knee. Pirom Un Prasert was right there and had no hesitation in giving a red card. Looking back it was probably the correct decision but there's just a little voice which says that given the occasion and the rather obvious consequence it might have been a good idea to show just the yellow.
After that Brazil went about their revenge in style, ruthless style. Australia were basically chasing places where a Brazilian had just been and playing the ball which had been there just a moment before. That said they did do very well to defend but it was looking bad, much worse than the 0-0 game a few days before. Sure enough after 28 minutes Ronaldo scored once more, he ran to the ball as two defenders were trying to do something with it that didn't smack of desperation. In retrospect they might have been better off doing just that as Ronaldo got his toe to the ball and poked it gently across the face of goal and it crossed the line just inside the far post. It was a class finish but the Aussies should have been able to stop that one.
Terry Venables had to do something and that something was taking the defender and midfielder Vidmar brother combination off and bringing on the striker Aloisi and defender Muscat. It was not really a stroke of genius but you play with the cards you are dealt. To take the metaphor further Venables bluffed and Zagallo called by not doing anything different. Roughly 5 minutes out from halftime Romario got his first goal of the night when he got goalside of his marker, chested Cafu's cross down and scored past Bosnich from right in front.
The Aussies faces reflected the daunting truth that, at 3-0 down, only half the game had been played and there was no way on this earth Brazil would do anything but win. Halftime came and went and neither side made any changes to their lineup.
Brazil kept up the unrelenting pressure eventhough they could have settled down for 45 minutes of practice and won in a canter. If you're going to do something against Brazil one would be wise to score very, very late and ensure no further encounters for quite some time. Although Stan Lazaridis won a corner for Australia early in the second half, Australia's first, and both Kewell and Zelic played quite well (not to mention the very busy Bosnich) but you can't win a game with just a few players on form when you face Brazil. At least Australia can't, Germany, Italy or Argentina might have a chance. The corner was cleared and although Zelic did get a shot away in anger in the followup it went wide and again Dida was just there for decoration.
Seconds later Ronaldo headed the ball on to Romario from a cross and the latter had little trouble in making the score 4-0. That's the way it goes, come close at one end and then fart away all the effort with some laxness at the other end. It's a big price to pay but one suspects that with quite a number of players in the lineup who will still figure for Australia come the 2002 World Cup campaign it is a valuable lesson. Ivanovic and Tobin will probably be too old, this day was actually Ivanovic's 37th birthday, and there might be some question about Aurelio Vidmars age. Certainly form and the level of competition for places will say much but perhaps next time the squad will be much wiser in the ways of football and not be susceptible to being gazumped by Iran (who could very well stand in Australia's path next time too). As Australia prepared for corner number 2 of the match the made their final substitution and took off Steve Horvat for Goldenboy to come on. These days Goldenboy's hair is cut very short, given he plays in Japan one might have thought his long blonde hair might be very marketable...perhaps this is the reason he got it cut...hmm. Still Matthew Bingley, which is what FIFA likes to call Goldenboy, made no apparent difference but he is more of an attacking defender come midfielder while Horvat is strictly a defender. I don't know that it was wise but it showed some spirit to make the substitution. That Brazil were to score their 5th goal 3 minutes later is neither here nor there.
Before that Australia somehow managed to get a free kick just outside the Brazilian area which normally doesn't fill me with much anticipation. Infact I mention it purely because the referee had his arm up to signify and indirect free kick and Zelic decides to shoot for the near post directly. The ball hit the side netting but even if it had gone in I suspect it would have been called goalkick rather than just goal. Still, credit for trying and it did get pretty close.
Then, as mentioned already, Brazil scored their fifth goal, this time a ball through the middle did not catch any Brazilians offside but did find a charging Ronaldo bearing down on goal. One touch and BLAM! into the net. Not a lot you can do about that except to give it the credit it deserves and ask Santa for better players. Alright the players we have are solid and I don't fault them for losing 6-0 when they have done so wonderfully well to even get to the final. However it is clear that Australia is still a long way from where we should be if we want to be competitive against anybody and reasonably expect to win.
Ronaldo must have had some sort of record in his sights when he decided to control the ball in the penalty box with his hand. The referee did well to spot the infringement and showed him the yellow card. Ronaldo smiled.
Then, just when it looked like 5-0 is where the score would settle a run into the area by Ronaldo brought Bosnich out of the goalmouth and falling at Ronaldo's feet. Not in worship mind you. From what I can see with the benefit of the replay Bosnich did actually get the ball before Ronaldo tripped over his arms but goalkeepers and forwards have a game all their own in these situations and this time Bosnich lost and the penalty was awarded. I believe it was not warranted (especially with the score as it was) but this is not important. Ronaldo, having won the penalty and already secured the hat-trick gave Romario the chance to get his own hat-trick which he gleefully accepted. Bosnich stood as the ball went to his left. He had started to move right and was caught unbalanced and in the end he just looked like he didn't give a fuck, which might also be true, when he was merely well beaten.
Australia managed to up the corner count a little towards the end of the game but Brazil took home the trophy after Argentina and Denmark had won the two previous (non-FIFA sanctioned) events. Australia won a handy runners up cheque, I suspect they made an overall positive impression about their level of play and went away amid murmurs that they would like to host the event in 2 years time.
This would be a nice way to prepare Australia for the Olympics and it may help sway Terry Venables mind for he says he would like to continue coaching Australia to 2002 if only they had some meaningful competition in between. Perhaps we can get ourselves invited to the Copa America or the Asian Cup.
The next games Australia will play will be part of the annual 4 nation tournament in Australia late January/early February. Rumoured opponents are Japan, USA and South Korea.