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![]() Brazil overcome battling Australia
![]() Adriano struggled until scoring his first goal of the finals. SPECIAL REPORT
Special: World Cup 2006
MUNICH, Germany -- Goals from Adriano and Fred gave Brazil a 2-0 win over battling Australia and sent the world champions into the last 16 of the World Cup in Munich on Sunday. Adriano notched his first goal of the tournament four minutes into the second half after the South Americans had endured a frustrating first-half against Guus Hiddink's men. Substitute Fred wrapped up the win in the 89th minute, rolling home a rebound after a Robinho shot came back off a post. Australian substitute Harry Kewell had missed a great chance to equalize a minute after coming on in the 56th minute, shooting over an empty goal after keeper Dida dropped the ball. Striker Ronaldo played poorly again and was substituted for the second game running in another generally unconvincing performance by Brazil, who beat Croatia 1-0 in their opening game. Australia, who face Croatia in their last game, have three points while Japan and Croatia have one each in Group F. Brazil's best first-half move came in the third minute. Ronaldo controlled the ball on his chest and flicked the backwards to Kaka who volleyed wide from the edge of the penalty area. If the ball had gone in, the game could have taken a completely different course. Instead, Australia packed the midfield and hustled Brazil out of their stride with tenacious marking and tackling. Brazilian pair Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were both subdued with only Kaka's penetrating runs offering any threat. Ronaldo, who had a dismal match against Croatia, was again out of sorts and at one point had a heated argument with coach Carlos Alberto Parreira on the touchline. Yellow cardHis frustration was complete with a yellow card for playing on after he had been flagged offside. The second half was only four minutes old when Brazil got the breakthrough they badly needed. Ronaldinho picked out Ronaldo, who held off his marker and rolled the ball across the face of the penalty area to Adriano. The Inter Milan striker, also struggling until then, took one touch and placed a low shot beyond goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer's left hand. Brazil were flattered when Fred added a late second guiding a rebound into an empty net after Robinho had hit a post. Fred said that he planned a special Father's Day gift to celebrate his goal in Brazil's 2-0 World Cup win over Australia on Sunday. "I'm going to give the ball as a present to my father," Fred told reporters. "I hope I can get everyone else to sign it for him. "Thank God we were able to win. I'm really happy about scoring a goal so shortly (one minute) after I got on.We've qualified for the next round so now we'll be able to play more openly." Midfielder Ze Roberto said he expected champions Brazil to improve as the competition progressed. "We are getting better," said Ze Roberto. "We will, I think, get better in every game. "We tried to impose our style of play from the start but we were up against very strong opponents who were strong in defense." Australia captain Mark Viduka was pleased with the performance of his team. "It's very disappointing not to get something out of the game but Brazil are Brazil and we gave them a good game," Viduka told Australian television. "We played well and on another day it could have been different for us." The Socceroos can still qualify for the second round with a win over Croatia in their final Group F game in Stuttgart on June 22. "If we can get a result against Croatia then the group is still open for us," Viduka said.
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