The Brazilians lined up like this Brazil : 1. Dida, 2. Bruno, 3. Gelson, 4. Juarez, 5. Marcelinho, 6. Wagner, 7. Cate, 8. Pereira, 9. Gian, 10. Adriano, 11. Yan USA : 3. Gregg Berhalter, 4. Chris Faklaris, 5. Brian Johnson, 6.Keirnan Zavagnin, 8. Robert Smith, 9. Brian Kelly, 11. Miles Joseph, 12 Brandon Pollard, 14. Dana Quick, 17. Imad Baba, 18. Jeffrey Cassar Referee : Kim Nielsen (Denmark) It seems the Brazilians objected to the original Referee for this match Richard Lorenc (he's Australian) because they feared he would favour the US. FIFA obliged "in the interests of fairness". Judging from this it would seem they feared the US more than most people would admit. Dissappointing as it was I have to say they shouldn't have worried. The 12000 strong capacity crowd was dominated by the loud support for Brazil. The match got underway and though the Americans seemed confident on the ball to some degree, they were very reluctant to commit themselves to tackling the Brazilians. This of course allowed Brazil to go and do what they pleased. Just inside the match I heard a distant, decidedly american, voice say "put them under pressure, get them out of their rhythm". Good advice but not taken. US coach Bobby Howe (irrelevant point coming) has played at the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide in the early 1970's with Bournemouth when they beat a South Australian side 2-0. He recalls that he missed a few chances to score himself. Brazil exhibited the kind of dominance such extensive possession will give you and warmed up by taking pot shots at Cassar's goal. The boys from Brazil meant business and didn't care who knew it. As I say America didn't play badly when they had the ball, some of their moves were actually quite impressive, yet Dida was less a goalkeeper and more someone who had very good tickets to see the game. His counterpart on the other hand was giving the talent scouts a good look at what he could do. Pereira, thanks to a pass from Adriano, found himself clear with the goal in front for Brazil's best chance yet. Cassar came forward and smothered the shot thus ensuring the lead would elude Brazil for a little longer. Another aside as I mention that Bora, the coach of the US senior side, has asked Cassar to come to training camp with the squad (told ya!). Brazil's shots at goal were often wayward, had they been more accurate the score could have been far worse for the US. The sort of impudence Brazil showed was neatly summed up when they went for a direct shot at goal from a free kick taken closer to the centre circle than the penalty box (no kidding) which they made no effort to disguise. What's worse the shot was on target until it took a deflection for a corner. This was a mistake as the replay showed the ball hit the Brazilian in front of the wall rather than the wall itself, perhaps Jesper was right about the referee. As someone mentioned before Dana Quick was infact fairly slow in comparison to the players he was marking. Yet somehow the Americans did begin to pull themselves together and became more dominant in the midfield. I felt that if the US could get a quick break going they might just catch the Brazilians out. What may have occured after that will forever remain conjecture as the counter-attacks never amounted to more than threats. More time was spent at the other end of the field where Adriano tried a direct shot at goal from fairly wide out. Cassar dove forward to parry the ball away, and he needed to do so as the ball was going inside the far post until his intervention. The first American shot at goal came after almost 15 minutes from Robbie Smith. It was a reasonable chance but the ball skewed off Smith's right foot and went 4-5 metres wide of the right upright. Imad Baba, who was part of the US's only success against Brazil in an U17 tournament in Scotland, was a standout for the Americans. While his teammates showed skills too only Baba showed composure and some modicum of confidence. The US had another good oppertunity to make their mark when Zavagnin was brought down by Yan just outside Brazil's area. The free kick was taken by Baba and crashed into the wall. Oppertunities like these would not, and do not, come often against quality teams like Brazil. To win they must either be converted or cause serious doubt in the opposition for later exploitation. Meanwhile at the other end Cassar was checking his uniform for any mischievously placed targets. Perhaps he might have been well advised to have worn a more tranquil colour than bright red, though it did look good. After 32 minutes the Brazilians finally got the goal they had promised for quite some time. Gian had made a good run down the left and went inside to take a shot himself which was well parried behind for a corner. (The reason Cassar was parrying all these balls was because most were approaching escape velocity). The corner was taken by Adriano, made a stop at Cate's feet while he dribbled the ball around for a bit and then completed it's journey towards goal where Bruno headed in from inside the 5metre box. Cassar was stranded, even I could have headed that in, the goal was really Cate's. I am reminded at this point of one of the American squad members who is also a kicker for his college gridiron team. Apparently he is yet to choose his career path (I cannot recall what his name is and I don't want to misinform you by hazarding a guess), and I wonder about how many players the US is losing due to a lack of a professional league system, or indeed any kind of league system. Must be frustrating. Wagner 'did a hammie' pulled a hamstring just before half time and was off the field for the last 3-4 minutes while being treated. The second half began with Hermes in his place. Brain Kelly was also replaced at half time with William Lanza (my Mum knows all the songs his father ever sang :-) ) due to a recurrence of his back problems. Brazil continued to bomard the American goal though the earlier goal gave them an oppertunity to pick and choose their moments. One such moment came when Gian came down the left flank (Dana Quick's side) and kicked the ball across the goalmouth. No Brazilians managed to put a foot on the ball but Cate laid it back to Adriano at the edge of the penalty area who then obliged by putting the ball in the net. Jeffrey Cassar was doing a very good headless chicken impersonation while he chased the ball this way and that, but never reached it until he picked it out of the net. The match, if ever you could say it was in doubt, was surely over now. I think the Americans sensed it too as they began to hold back and avoid further embarassment rather than commit too many men forward. Until then they had looked like they might spring a goal, but two or more was not going to happen against a team which had conceded just one goal in the group matches, and none during qualifying. Robbie Smith came close twice, with a lob which sailed over the bar and a deflection which did the same. At the other end the Brazilians were more accurate but found Jeff Cassar to be in good form, as he had been all along. Bobby Howe, seeing that the height of Chris Faklaris wasn't being utilised and that his general play looking tired replaced him with Robbie Labelle. Robbie Smith got the first yellow card of the game with about 20 minutes left in the match. He was the only one willing to chase and tackle a Brazilian forward, albeit clumsily. The US's best chance of the game came when Robbie Labelle came down the right side of the field and kicked the ball high into the left side of the penalty area. Miles Joseph volleyed the ball sweetly past Dida only to have it strike the post and bounce out. The rebound was also close for Lanza but missed the goal and resulted in a few looks of surprise on Brazil's team and a goal kick. Late in the game Caico replaced Pereira for Brazil to use up their last substitution. In the dying moments of the match a clearance after a corner from Brazil struck Bruno and rebounded to Gian. Gian then crossed the ball back into the centre where Bruno beat his teammate to the ball to score the third. While the replays were being shown full time was called by Kim Nielsen. For the US Cassar was outstanding with Lanza, Smith, Baba, and Zavagnin doing themselves credit. Brazil were all formidable, probably Adriano, Bruno and Cate the best of the team. Brazil 3 (Bruno 32, 90) - USA 0 (Adriano 51)