As usual I turned up early to see the match on the stadium screen
before the England Ghana game got under way. I had trepidations about the
game but let's put first things first.

Brazil 	: 1. Dida, 2. Bruno, 3. Gelson, 4. Juarez, 5. Marcelinho, 7. Cate
	  8. Pereira, 9. Gian, 10. Adriano, 11. Yan, 15. Hermes

Australia : 18. Vincent Matassa, 2. Craig Moore, 3. Aaron Holst, 4. Ante Juric,
	    5. Marc Wingell, 6. Kevin Muscat, 8. Anthony Carbone, 9. Paul
	    Agostino, 10. Ante Milicic, 11. Peter Tsekenis, 13. Ante Moric

Referee	: Helmut Krug (Germany)

	Well the Brazilians made things interesting before the kick off again
with complaints about the referee. Their reasoning being that Scheinflug,
the Aussie coach, being of German origin was going to have his side favoured
by the German referee. As if that wasn't enough they also complained about
having to wear a changed strip of blue shirts and white shorts. I see that
the Brazilian outfit is famous and fairly unique but if FIFA decide that 
they have to wear their other colours then so be it. After all it was the
first time in the tournament Brazil were asked to do so, and Australia, already
having worn their second string colours in an earlier match, as hosts got
the nod.
	Enough of the preludes the game got under way at Melbourne's
Olympic Park in front of a full house. The Brazilians skill was always going
to be superior to that of the Australians and it didn't take long to show.
Australia though had proved competitive against Brazil late last year and 
gave a good account of themselves. Pereira got an early yellow card after
felling a charging Peter Tsekenis in the midfield. Brazil, as in earlier
games, looked confident and shot for goal at every oppertunity. Fully aware
of the kind of game Brazil play Australia was counter attacking as quickly 
as possible when Brazil lost possession in the Australian half.
	Soon enough Ante Moric also got his name into the ref's book for
tripping Brazil's No 2 as he ran down the sideline. Hermes was lucky not to
have a similar situation get his name into the book after he took a promising
run by Anthony Carbone to an untimely end. Australia's first real shot at goal
came after 10 minutes when Anthony Milicic took a shot at Dida's goal after
a good build up. The ball was accurate only in the sense that Dida didn't have
to move to catch it.
	Brazil had only conceded one goal in the tournament so far, so it was
always going to be quite an ask to break the Brazilian defence while holding
their dangerous attackers at bay. However, despite Brazil's much vaunted
skills, much of the match was an intruiging battle in the midfield with 
forward surges by both sides, but neither being able to make too much of it.
At this stage I thought Australia had a chance to win, but they would need to
get the goal late and hold out the Brazilians until that time. It was unlikely
Brazil would be beaten, if at all, by more than one goal.
	Gian probably should have put Brazil ahead after a Brazil throw in
was given to Adriano, who passed to Yan and Gian tried to bury a leaping volley
into the net, but was aiming about 50 cms too high. Juarez also got booked
for trying to stop a quick free kick by the Australians by standing over the
ball. Nice to see that FIFA is doing something about these niggling tactics,
which in themselves may not be too serious but really destroy the flow of a
game.
	Australia's Ante Milicic was slightly unlucky not to have got a better
chance at goal but he was tightly marked and from the free kick Dida seemed
well positioned to have taken care of a more urgent outcome. Carbone, who
along with Paul Agostino the latter now valued at $1mil by his club Young Boys
of Berne, are both rumoured to have been approached by Atalanta was playing well
and causing his markers a bit of frustration. Hermes' close call for a yellow
card earlier being an example.
	Close to half time Cate passed the ball across to Adriano just outside
the penalty area and Adriano tried to guide the ball into the top right hand
corner of Matassa's goal. It was Matassa's alertness which saw him quickly get
behind the ball and take it cleanly. Craig Moore then had a similar experience
to Paul Gascoigne in the WC'90 semi final when the referee made sure this
was his last game. I cannot quite remember who Gazza fouled (Brehme?) but Moore
fouled Adriano. There the half ended, Brazil looking the better of the two 
sides but Australia certainly had nothing to be ashamed of. For the want of
something more original it was anybody's game.
	At the restart Ante Milicic was replaced by Jim Tsekinis, I don't know
why but the newspaper used the term out-of-sorts. I assume that means Les
Scheinflug thought he played badly, or wasn't getting involved enough. The game
continued on it's steady course, again Brazil with more of the play but 
Australia with dangerous breaks and oppertunities. While it remained 0-0 it
was still anyone's game. A Bruno free kick, and an Agostino header both 
emphasising how fine the line between victory and defeat is. Both missed but
either could have gone in, ah but for the beauty of football. Of course Juarez
might not quite agree as Moric, attempting to put in a cross, gained a
corner after it crunched into Juarez's ghoulies. He was looking very white
for a man of deeper skin tones. Meantime Darren Iocca replaced Peter
Tsekenis who was suffering from a cork in his right leg.  Many chances 
died a horrible death that night. Most for Brazil but just as rumblings of
extra time began to creep up Brazil effectively won the match in the 78th
minute. Nothing interesting seemed to be happening, and perhaps that was the
crux of the matter but Marcelinho performed a one-two with Adriano to
leave him alone in front of goal and another Brazilian beside him so that
Matassa was facing a two on one. Marcelinho slotted the ball over the diving
keeper and into the net. Only minutes earlier he was receiving lengthy
treatment on the sidelines and whatever they gave him I want the ASF to order
3 cases. Marcelinho said of the goal after the match "I didn't know which way
to run after I scored" showing the relief the team felt after breaking the
deadlock. I knew Australia wouldn't win it now, but to their credit they 
pushed forward in an effort to regain parity.
	About 8 minutes were left when Caico replaced Gian, and soon after
Matassa pitted his skills against Adriano and won. Australia, just as they
pushed forward, lost the ball through Carbone and Adriano ran half the length
of the pitch but the rushing Matassa stopped his shot keeping Brazil's lead
at 1-0.
	It didn't stay that way for the remainder of the match though. In a 
superb solo effort Cate caught out the Australians, who had an equaliser in
mind. Moore was dispossessed near the Brazilian penalty area by Adriano who
then passed to Cate at the edge of the centre circle. Cate then ran more
than half the length of the field, got rid of Moric and slotted the ball under
the rushing keeper to score the sealing goal a minute before half time.
Carbone was the only one anywhere near the three protagonists, but wasn't
fast enough to make an impact.
	I have no doubts that the better team won, and deservedly so.
Nevertheless I am disappointed that Australia lost and it would have been
so good for football here. Many of the Australians were sprawled on the field
after the match and I felt for them, many were unable to attend the postmatch
press conference. "This is the knock-out blow, and if you could see those 
boys now you would understand what they feel", said Scheinflug. "It is like a
bomb has gone off in the dressing room".
	"The final is one target, it has been on our minds since we left
Brazil, but the next step is to win it", says Brazil's coach Julio Leal.
He also added "Australia has the basis for a really great senior team for
the future. This country now belongs to the top rank of world football".
Cynics might say he could afford to say this as his team had won against the
hosts, but he could have left it at words like "valiant effort, better luck
next time" but it would seem he was seriously impressed.
	Take a bow Aussies, well done Brazil.

	Brazil 2 (Marcelinho 78, Cate 89) - Australia 0