By Sarah Smithon Wednesday, 14 Jun 2006 Brazil made their 2006 World Cup debut last night against Croatia, but it was not the earth-shattering performance that many were expecting.
Although the five-time World Cup champions won the game 1-0, they were not given an easy ride by the Balkans team and lacked their usual sparkle.
They were not helped by Real Madrid striker Ronaldo, scorer of 12 previous World Cup goals, who appeared a somewhat overweight shadow of his former self and strolled about lethargically.
"I don't know what happened to him – he must be tired," said Croatia's centre back, Robert Kovac, adding that it had been "very easy" to mark Ronaldo, who arrived in Germany on the back of a problematic season at Real Madrid.
However, Brazil went into the lead with a curling left-footed shot from Kaka and kept the Croatians at bay until the final whistle. The win meant that Brazil became the first team ever to win eight successive matches in the World Cup finals.
Kaka and Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira were both supportive of Ronaldo, the latter saying that he would still begin their second game on Sunday, this time against Australia.
|
Bingo
