Brazil thrashes New Zealand 5-0 at Olympic Soccer Tournament

SHENYANG, Northeast China, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) — Ronaldinho declares a high-profile recovery of form in a match in which Brazil showed the true color by thrashing Olympian debutant New Zealand 5-0 here on Sunday.

His remarkable free kicks directly slammed into the Kiwi’s net in the second half, and his dutiful penalty shot made him the most worthy player of the match in the star-studded Brazilian squad.

“Ronaldinho did a good job today and we can see he smiled on the pitch again,” coach Dunga said. “Such a talented player like him can adjust very soon to play better, even though he hasn’t played for four months.”

“It’s a responsibility to play good football for Brazil. We had special training these days to strengthen our aggressiveness and we were better than last match” said the coach. “Our pace is faster and the players are finding their form back from the League matches.”

Brazilian midfielder Anderson opened the scoring when he dived for a follow-up scoring header near the goal after his right-footed strike was cleared by New Zealand goalie Jacob Spoonley, finishing a sole run in the third minute.

AC Milan’s 19-year-old striking prodigy Alexandre Pato enlarged the lead in the 34th minute, heading home a superb cross from Rio Madrid defender Marcelo.

In the 54th minute, two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho got a chance to launch a spot kick near the edge of the box. He stroke a low shot with his right foot, curling over the Spoonley and hitting the back of the net.

Only six minutes later, Ronaldinho, who recently transferred from Barcelona to AC Milan, was brought down inside the box and got a foul kick. He duly put the penalty into the left corner of the net.

“We conceded the first goal a little bit too early but Brazil is one of the best teams in the world,” New Zealand coach Stu Jacob said. “Some of our players are a bit tired after last Thursday’s match with China.”

The Brazilians were not content with the disparity of scores and during injury time, forward Rafael Sobis, who replaced Pato 20 minutes before the final whistle, put in another easy goal after a number of consecutive passes by Ronaldinho and midfielder Lucas.

“In the last 20 minutes we dominated the match and we had chances to show our individual abilities,” Lucas said.

Brazil’s brilliant techniquess effectively curbed the Kiwis. They dominated two thirds of the match in terms of ball possision and had 11 shots on goal, compared to three of New Zealand.

Brazil’s attacks are assisted by a full audience magneted by the mega stars such as Ronaldinho and Diego.

Brazil have won the FIFA World Cup a record five times but have come up short at the Olympics, finishing with a silver medal in the 1984 and 1988 Games, and bronze in 1996. After failing to qualify in 2004 Athens Games, coach Dunga’s side is determined to bring the champion title home from Beijing.

chinaview.cn

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