Brazil yesterday demolished Australia 4-0, fired by a Diego Souza goal after just 12 seconds in their international friendly in Melbourne.
The Socceroos held the five-time World Cup champions to 1-0 at halftime, but dazzling Brazil ripped apart the home defense with three second-half goals.
Souza, who replaced injured striker Gabriel Jesus, scored twice, with other goals from defender Thiago Silva and substitute Taison — his first international goal.
Brazil bounced back spectacularly from their 1-0 loss to Argentina at the same venue on Friday last week, with Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, captain for the night, and Chelsea’s David Luiz outstanding for the South Americans.
Brazil got off to a stunning start with a goal after just 12 seconds when defender Bailey Wright dithered and gave away the ball to Giuliano.
Giuliano sent Diego Souza through to beat goalkeeper Mitch Langerak for his first international goal.
However, after the catastrophic start, the Socceroos settled down, with their passing improved from last week’s World Cup 3-2 qualifier win over Saudi Arabia.
Coutinho, Brazil’s ninth captain since Tite became manager, troubled Australia with his deft close skills and touch, while Luiz was rock solid as the holding midfielder in front of the back three.
Brazil made it 2-0 just after the hour, when Luiz’s thunderous header from Coutinho’s corner came off the bar for Silva to nod home among a crowd of players in the six-yard box.
Langerak saved with his legs to deny Souza from scoring when Mark Milligan gave away possession to substitute Willian as Brazil turned the screws on the Socceroos.
Coutinho and Luiz, Brazil’s two most influential players, were substituted minutes apart before substitute Taison scored his first international goal after exquisite interplay by Willian and Paulinho set up the chance 15 minutes from time.
Souza had a free header off a corner in the third minute of stoppage time to round off the scoring for Brazil.
It was a sobering farewell for Australia, who today leave for Russia and the FIFA Confederations Cup, where they face Germany in their first game on Monday next week.
Brazil were the first time to qualify for next year’s FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later