Here is a place for your hopes and wishes for the New Year.
I'll start with four of mine:
1. A hearty and healthy New Year to all the visitors to the FSC website and to all FSC and FSWR viewers.
2. 2007 will see Canada host the FIFA Under-20 World Cup - the largest single sport event ever hosted by this country. May the tournament be a great success both on the field and in the stands.
3. Adriano sufferred through a horrendous 2006. May the New Year see him regain the form he enjoyed with Parma.
4. May the race for the Premiership title, the Champions League spots and the battle to avoid relegation go down to the wire.
It turns out as a very comfortable win for Brazil. The early goal for Ronaldo settled it down and Adriano’s goal just on half time was killer blow especially after Mensah’s header.
ESPN seems certain it was offside but I thought it was so tight that you had to give the benefit to the attacker – especially when the decision is based on when Cafu crossed the ball not when it rebounded from the defender.
Ghana showed great spirit in the second half but lacked that edge that Essien might have provided. So Brazil move on – they’ve scored 10 goals, conceded 1 and have yet to be fully convincing.
Ronaldinho has yet to show up, Kaka is carrying the midfield load at the moment.
One final note – has Gyan accumulated the most petty hat trick of stupid yellow cards at a World Cup or what. After a yellow card for a lunge against Italy he received another three for; taking a penalty to early; kicking the ball away; diving.
Brazil has had the better of the possession but they are not dominating Australia by any stretch of the imagination.
You can see the frustration mounting in the Brazilian players.
Australia is looking very comfortable at the moment. Defensively they are compact; in midfield they are moving the ball nicely; up front they are getting chances allbeit from outside the penalty area.
Brazil is getting very little movement from Ronaldo and Adriano in attack and that means the Australian defense doesn't need to think very much.
If this doesn't change then Parreira has to get Robinho into the game.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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