Japan & Brazil Share Four Goals

Brazil pulled off their classification for the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup against Zico’s Japan, although not without some difficulty – and controversy over the disallowal of the first Japanese goal. Although the Seleção raised the sub-standard level of their game, nobody’s going to get dizzy over a so-so performance. This sends Parreira into the clash with Germany still needing to pop the hood on his team and give the motor more than a subtle tweak: the players may be tired, but the shirt is the same. Aaron Marcus reports on the events in Köln... The game started with fairly even jockeying for the ball, Japan looking sprightly and focused without charging forward in a suicidal stampede. Zico had trained his team well, the Japanese what actually should have been the first goal of the match. The number 20 broke through the – déjà vu – slack Brazilian offside trap to receive a measured past that he slotted under a charging Marcos. Sadly for the blues the linesman erred on the side of caution, or at least myopia, and overruled the perfectly valid goal. Brazil regained their footing in the game, Ronaldinho Gaúcho shouldering the responsibility of the captain’s armband and leading his team in a more exemplary fashion than in his lukewarm to chilly performance against Mexico. Adriano appeared rather cumbersome as the other members of the ‘Fantastic Four’ zapped around and threaded together various passing strings that the Inter number 9 was unable to complete. It was to be the other three that would put Brazil into the lead in the tenth minute, Ronaldinho breaking out of his own half – helping the shaky defense as were the other three Fantastics – via a couple of dribbles and a swathe of open left flank that he charged down, taking a diagonal towards the Japanese area after the half-way line, zigzagging with Robinho before sliding a pass left to the Peixe idol who scored the first (allowed) goal. The Seleção were more precise in their passing, quicker in their reactions and more original in their thinking than against ‘El Tri’: a relief after the barely recognisable efforts against the Mexicans. Although Brazil appeared more dangerous, Japan broke out to mount several counter-attacks, including the one in which Nakamura walloped a long shot past Marcos, the Brazilian having recklessly left his line in a lapse of concentration and only getting fingertips to the ball before it equalised the match. Brazil bounced back in the 32nd minute, Ronaldinho accidentally walloping the ball at the ref, whose back ‘passed’ the ball on to Kaká. The Milan midfielder pressed forward before whipping it left to Robinho, who in turn knocked it on to the Gaúcho, whose shot bent the Japanese goalie’s digits but ended up in the back of the net. The Barça playmaker appeared driven in his new post as captain, trademark grin swapped for dead-serious frown. His play recovered some of the Camp Nou verve that wowed the world this season, although nosedived in the final fifteen minutes as he was squeezed to the pips. The second half was spiced up before most players had warmed up, Marcos defusing one of those heart-stopping defensive fluffs that cost championships and tournaments every year. Robinho wheeled on his famous overlapping ‘pedalas’ (bicycle pedals) against Nakata, sending his final shot slightly wide. In another forehead-slapping moment of mental absence Cicinho saves the ball off the Seleção goal line after the entire defense and keeper fail in a series of poor domino attempts to clear the ball. Kawaguchi was impressively solid between the Japanese sticks, unafraid to use unorthodox anatomy to save both Juan and Cicinho’s shots – his face and neck. This led to some stoppage followed by the substitutions of Adriano (Julio Batista) and Kaká (Renato), and within five minutes new Valencia left-half Edu came on for an exhausted Zé Roberto. Brazil came close to widening the gap through Ronaldinho (72 min) and Robinho (79 min), but failed to put the final touches to some fluent build-ups. After Gilberto Silva mistimed a box-edge tackle a free-kick was given, Nakamura showing his dead-ball skills by leaving Marcos playing statues as he watched the ball slam off his left post and ricochet back into the area. The rebound was lunged at by Oguro, whose toe-punt was almost caught by Marcos’ spine-lengthening stretch. 2-2. The draw leaves Brazil’s sayonara postponed, and the Canarinha qualified to face hosts Germany in the semi-final judgement at Nuremberg on Saturday. JAPAN: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi; Makoto Tanaka, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Takayuki Chano; Akira Kaji, Takashi Fukunishi, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Shunshuke Nakamura and Alex (Santos - nationalised); Hidetoshi Nakata and Atsushi Yanagisawa. Coach: Zico BRASIL: Marcos; Cicinho, Juan, Lúcio and Léo; Gilberto Silva, Zé Roberto (Edu), Kaká (Renato) and Ronaldinho Gaúcho; Adriano (Julio Batista) and Robinho. Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira.