SEOGWIPO (South Korea), June 8: Four-time champions Brazil dished out a World Cup masterclass to tournament debutants China here Saturday, turning on the style in a 4-0 thrashing.
Goals from each member of Brazil’s ‘Triple R’ strike-force - Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho - plus a scorching free-kick from Roberto Carlos secured an easy win for the in-form South Americans.
The result leaves Brazil top of Group C and all but guaranteed a place in the last 16 with only a match against Costa Rica to come. China play Turkey in their final game.
Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said his team was gathering momentum.
“We knew the Chinese are getting better but we also knew we are a better team than they are. We are more experienced,” Scolari said.
“We’re not bothered about who our next opponent will be. It can be anybody - it’s too early to think about it,” he said.
Despite the heavy defeat, China’s experienced coach Bora Milutinovic was satisfied with his team’s performance.
“I’m not happy with the result - it’s always disappointing to lose - but I’m happy with the spirit showed by our players,” said Milutinovic, the only man to coach five countries at different World Cups.
“We showed a lot of personality tonight against a strong team. It was a better performance than Costa Rica (a 2-0 defeat), where we made more mistakes,” Milutinovic added.
China had gone into the encounter anxious to avoid a rout but their worst fears came true in 90 painful minutes as Brazil strolled to victory.
Time and again China were sliced apart by Brazil’s attackers, to the dismay of thousands of Chinese fans inside the Seogwipo Stadium who had hoped for a miracle.
Ronaldo’s goal on 55 minutes completed the scoring, though Brazil had several chances to increase their victory margin throughout the second half.
Rivaldo swept a majestic long ball out to Cafu on the right flank, who danced past his marker before squaring to the unmarked Ronaldo who tapped in his second goal of the tournament from close-range.
“It was a good day for me,” Ronaldo said afterwards. “I scored another goal and I’m feeling better physically. Hopefully I’ll score some more goals in the next game.”
The match had been wrapped up long before then, Brazil surging into a 3-0 half-time lead.
They went ahead with a stunning Roberto Carlos free-kick from 25 metres on 15 minutes, the Real Madrid star sending a left-footed thunderbolt rocketing past the diving Jiang Jin into the net.
Though the velocity of the shot gave Jiang no chance, questions will be asked about the positioning of Jiang’s wall, which left a sizeable part of the Chinese goal exposed. It was Roberto Carlos’ first successful free-kick since his famous swerving effort against France at the Tournoi in 1997.
Brazil went close to doubling their lead soon afterwards, when skipper Cafu burst down the flank before thumping a right-footed shot which Jiang beat away.
The Brazilians doubled their goal tally on 32 minutes through a simple move which split the Chinese defence.
A clipped cross from the left flank by Ronaldinho found Rivaldo lurking in the six-yard box and the Barcelona star finished clinically.
On the stroke of half-time Brazil made it 3-0 when Ronaldo was hauled down in the box by China defender Du Wei, Ronaldinho stepping up to convert the spot-kick.
China, missing injured skipper Fan Zhiyi and key defender Sun Jihai, had begun the match brightly and got the first shot on goal through Qi Hong.
But it was a fleeting excursion into Brazilian territory and for most of the match China were firmly on the backfoot.
Hopes of a goal were raised in the second half when Zhao Junzhe rattled the woodwork with a curling shot, but it was the nearest China came.—AFP