Singapore's efforts not enough as dominant Brazilians win
Aaron Ong
info@fas.org.sgA dominant first half display from the Brazil Olympic team paved the way to a successful start to their warm up campaign for the upcoming Beijing Olympics, as they secured a 3-0 victory over a Singapore Selection side.
Goals from Diego and captain Ronaldinho in the first half underlined the away side’s superiority, and although the Singapore Selection side turned up the tempo in the second half, they could not make their chances count, and substitute Jo was to wrap up the scoring late in the game.
All in all, it was a partisan atmosphere as over 30,000 turned up to see the men in yellow and blue take on the Singapore Selection, effectively a national team squad fortified with three foreign players from the S.League.
Of those foreign players, only Home United’s Valery Hiek was given a starting berth, as he slotted into the right back position. Daniel Bennett moved inwards from his normal left back position, partnering Baihakki Khaizan in the centre of defence.
Elsewhere, Riduan Muhamad was selected on the right flank in the absence of Shi Jiayi, while Shahril Ishak recovered from a knock earned in his last S.League outing to take his spot on the left flank.
For the visitors, Ronaldinho was to lead his side out, with the new A.C. Milan signing being deployed upfront with fellow clubmate Alexandre Pato. Also included were a couple of faces familiar to fans of German football, namely Schalke’s Rafinha and Werder Bremen’s Diego.
It was the latter that was to have a starring role in the first half, with the midfielder seemingly appearing all over the pitch, and most of the Brazilian attacks going through him at one point.
Indeed, Diego was to set the tone of the first half from the very start. Just three minutes in, Ronaldinho’s corner found the Werder Bremen man on the edge of the box, and he produced an audacious overhead kick that Hassan Sunny did well to hold on to.
Pato was to have the next clear cut opportunity 10 minutes later. Twisting into space on the edge of the area, the 18-year-old’s low shot was well saved by Hassan.
But this was by no means a one man show by the Tampines Rovers goalkeeper. With the Brazilians controlling the ball for long periods at a go, the home side was forced to defend very deep to contend with the free-flowing South Americans.
Notably, the Singapore Selection side coped admirably with the absence of regular defender Precious Emuejeraye, with Bennett and Baihakki defending well against most of the Brazilian attacks coming their way, especially aerial balls that were pumped into the penalty area.
Having said that, the pressure was beginning to mount on the home team, and with a substantial portion of the crowd baying for a goal, Diego was to oblige them on 20 minutes.
Captain Ronaldinho embarked on a dribble across the box drawing defenders with him, and his exquisite backheel found Diego in acres of space at the edge of the area. The Werder Bremen man needed no invitation to find the back of Hassan’s goal, with a low shot that gave the goalkeeper no chance.
Seven minutes later, and the deficit was doubled. This time the roles were very much reversed, as Diego provided the creative spark with a delicate chip over the defence to a waiting Pato. Hassan did well to parry the striker’s initial shot, but there was Ronaldinho to poke home the rebound from almost under the crossbar.
Hassan was by far the busier of the two keepers, but he was showing why exactly he has replaced Lionel Lewis between the sticks in recent national team outings. Pato was again to be denied five minutes before the break, as his close range shot was batted away by the 24-year-old keeper.
Till then, the Singapore side had been largely ineffectual going forward, with Indra Sahdan and Aleksandar Duric often finding themselves chasing long hopeful balls punted forward.
It was in fact midfield general Fahrudin Mustafic who had the home team’s best chance in the first 45 minutes. With a minute left to go before halftime, the Tampines man let fly from long range after Shahril Ishak’s square pass. His effort however, flew over Brazilian keeper Renan’s goal, leaving the Singapore Selection trailing by two at the break.
A host of substitutions at the start of the second half were to change the complexion of the game. The impressive Diego was removed for the away team, while Singapore head coach Raddy Avramovic went for a more attacking display, with Khairul Amri and Fazrul Nawaz thrown into the fray.
Still, the Brazilians almost increased their lead just eight minutes after the restart. Real Madrid’s Marcelo stormed into the box, but while his chip beat substitute keeper Lewis, the ball drifted just wide of the far post.
However, one sensed that without Diego pulling the strings in midfield, the Brazilians were not the same force going forward, and the home team was to press forward and make some inroads on the Brazilian goal.
It was so nearly 2-1 on 55 minutes. After good work on the left flank, Fazrul found the overlapping Juma’at Jantan with a quality pass into the box. Juma’at’s powerful shot was parried away by Renan, and John Wilkinson’s followup bounced agonizingly wide of the unguarded net.
Qiu Li was brought on shortly for Duric, and he was to have the home team’s next effort on goal at the midway point of the second half. Amri’s smart pass found Qiu on the edge of the area, but the striker’s curling effort was tipped over at full stretch by Renan.
By now, the Brazilians had used up all their allocated outfield substitutions, and it would be the replacements who would impress for the remainder of the game.
Cruzeiro midfielder Ramires would come within a whisker of grabbing the third for the South Americans on 71 minutes. His shot found it way past Lewis, but Bennett was in the right place at the right time to clear the ball off the goalline.
Lewis was to be called into action again just three minutes later. This time the Home United keeper produced a world class save, clawing away Thiago Neves’ curling shot for a corner, when it seemed destined for the top corner.
But it was to be a newcomer to the Premier League in England that was to have the last say in terms of scoring. Neves dribbled expertly past Juma’at down the right flank, and his cross was bundled home from close range by Manchester City’s new recruit Jo. So 3-0 on 80 minutes, and the match was effectively over as a contest.
Unfortunately, the game was to end on a sour note for the South American visitors. Defender Alex Silva was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident with Qiu, although the rest of the team was to follow him shortly after, with referee Abdul Malik Bashir calling time on what had been a generally entertaining match for all present.
At a press conference held shortly after the game, Brazil head coach Dunga seemed generally pleased at his side’s run-out, in their bid to gain momentum going into the Olympics next month.
“It was a good game, considering how the players are all at different levels of fitness,” said Dunga. “We can’t expect to prepare completely given the short time we have had together, but I thought the players did well to pass the ball around, and impose themselves tactically.”
Dunga also took the time to praise the Singapore Selection for their efforts in this friendly match.
“The Singapore team gave a very good impression, and they had some good moments in the second half. They provided a very good test for us,” said the 44-year-old former Brazil international.
Singapore head coach Radojko Avramovic was also happy with his side’s efforts against the Brazilians, although he was not so pleased about the result and the first half display.
“In the first half we were under a lot of pressure to defend, but the second half we saw more of what we expected the players to show,” said the Serbian. “We had a few opportunities, good shots and good saves from the Brazil keeper, but the fact remains that if you don’t score goals, then you are sure to lose the game.”
“Still we saw that for periods in the game the players can compete with the very top teams. If they believe in themselves, they will continue to play well in future games,” added Avramovic.
Lastly, Avramovic had parting words for Dunga and his charges, in view of their upcoming campaign in Beijing.
“Brazil have many great individual players as we saw tonight, but they must expect more physical games in the Olympics. Still, I wish them all the best of luck for their upcoming games in the Olympics.”
HIGHLIGHTS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcBq3r59TKk&feature=relatedI Went to watch the match JO IS GOOD HE CAN DRIBBLE FIND SPACE AND HE SCORED WITH HIS HEAD. He also started the move that lead to the goal
Well i cant really see much cos i sit at the other side where the brazil Def and Gk at
Oh and i think Jo scored cos a [color="Red"]right winger [/color]Cross the ball to him
EDIT : I DINT GET anything !@ 2 of my friends get a singapore jersey and the other got the short
Did not see any brazillian throwing jersey to the fans >:(
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