Canada refuses to take back seat
Brazil 3 Canada 2. Robinho's genius, defensive gaffe decide entertaining friendly
Jim Jamieson, The Province
Published: Sunday, June 01, 2008
Brazil might have been missing superstars Ronaldinho, Kaka and Alexandre Pato, but they still had enough offensive firepower to edge a Canadian squad ranked 62nd in the world that nonetheless refused to take a step back Saturday night.
Sparked by the genius of Robinho -- one of the top forwards in the world -- FIFA No. 2-ranked Brazil took a 3-2 decision over Canada in a highly entertaining international friendly before a crowd of 47,052 mostly yellow-clad Brazil fans at Qwest Field.
Robinho, who plays for Spain's Sevilla FC, set up two of Brazil's goals and scored what stood up as the winner in the 63rd minute. He intercepted a poorly timed back pass from Canada midfielder Julian de Guzman and was able to run in alone to deke goalkeeper Pat Onstad and score into the wide open goal.
It was a tough break for de Guzman, who arguably had been Canada's best player to that point in the game and had tied the tilt at 2-2 just seven minutes earlier on a 23-yard thunderbolt.
"I felt very down," said de Guzman, who plays for Spain's Deportivo La Coruna. "We had the momentum and let it get away from us. We could have come away with a win."
It was also a tough result for Canada, which had enough chances in the first half to be up a goal or two on Brazil when the score was tied 1-1.
Canada's head coach Dale Mitchell took the game as a positive -- considering that Brazil fielded a strong squad and is also getting ready for qualifying in mid-June.
"I'm pleased with the way we played," said Mitchell. "We played with a team that is world class. We could have got down after they scored in the fourth minute, but we didn't let down."
Mitchell said de Guzman's gaffe shouldn't mar an otherwise excellent performance.
"He scored a good goal and a mistake like that can happen to anybody," said Mitchell. "He's a terrific kid. He's played against many of those players in Europe."
After a confident start to the game, the Brazilians struck early to open scoring in the fourth minute when Diego finished off a brilliant set-up by Robinho at the left side of the Canadian box.
Robinho completely undressed Canada's right fullback Paul Stalteri before feeding a deft pass to Diego, who punched a 12-yard shot past the outstretched fingers of Onstad and just inside the right post.
But Canada gathered themselves and tied the score just seven minutes later, when forward Rob Friend of Kelowna beat Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar to a long cross from Mike Klukowski and headed it into the goal to tie the game at 1-1.
Canada, its confidence on the rise, had some glorious chances to take the lead.
The best was a clear breakaway from about 40 yards out for Issey Nakajima-Faran in the 24th minute, but the midfielder's attempted lob over Cesar went wide to the right.
De Guzman also had a great chance from 22 yards in the 32nd minute, forcing Cesar to make a good save.
After the two teams exchanged close chances, the Brazilians took the lead just before the half when Luis Fabiano put a point blank header -- the pass came from Robinho -- through Onstad, who made initial contact but couldn't stop the ball from dropping over the goal line.
"Canada did not surprise us," said Brazil head coach Dunga.
"They are a disciplined team. They have two or three plays they execute well and they scored on one of them."
Dunga said he wasn't surprised by Robinho's exhibition of skill.
"He always plays with emotion and his happiness affects his teammates," he said.
Canada moves on to Ft. Lauderdale, where it will take on Panama in another friendly on Wednesday. That will be the Canadians' final tune-up before a two-game series with St. Vincent and the Grenadines June 15 at Kingstown, St. Vincent, and in Montreal on June 20. It's the start of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
The Canada/Brazil match will be broadcast at 10 a.m. this morning on Rogers Sportsnet.
