Brazil Beats Canada—But Only Just

Canada held its own against five-time soccer world champions Brazil. The Brazilians 3-2 triumph over Canada was a friendly in front of 47,052 at Qwest Field.

Robinho scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 63rd minute as he dominated events, looking to stake his claim for a place on the Brazilian Olympic squad.

With the game tied at 2-2, Canadian midfielder Julian de Guzman tried pass the ball back but mistimed it. A fatal mistake quite similar to what lead to the Pato goal against Sweden a short while ago.

Robinho did the rest from there, pouncing on the ball and dribbling past goalkeeper Pat Onstad. The superstar then drilled the ball in the back of the net for the winner.

Brazilian coach Dunga credited both teams for a tightly contested match.

“The game was very tough, very difficult. They were playing with many players behind. The field wasn’t very helpful for velocity and speed, but it was a tough game.”

Brazil opened the scoring in the fourth minute of action. Robinho split Canadian defenders just wide of the box in brilliant fashion before dropping a pass to Diego. Diego then beat Pat Onstad low on the far left side to give the South American contingent a 1-0 lead.

The lead didn’t last long, as Canada answered six minutes later when Tomasz Radzinski sent a high ball into the box from 35 yards out on the left side. Forward Rob Friend out-jumped goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who should have done better, and headed the ball into the back of the net to even the score at 1-1.

Canada had opportunities to take the lead against Brazil. In the 24th minute, Friend played a through ball from midfield to Issey Nakajima-Farran, who raced past a pair of Brazilian defenders to gain control of the pass. Nakajima-Farran was all alone with the keeper, but his chip shot slipped wide of the open goal.

Friend helped give Canada another scoring chance in the 32nd minute. Dwayne De Rosario carried the ball down the right-touch line, easily driving past the Brazilian defender  before delivering the ball to Friend inside the penalty box.

The Canadian forward neatly dropped a pass to Julian de Guzman, who fired a shot from 20 yards out that the keeper punched wide.

Despite the pressure from Canada, it was Brazil who scored again before halftime.

Running down the left touch line, Gilberto took a pass from Robinho and then sent a left-footed cross into the box. Luis Fabiano headed and scored from six yards out; Brazil 2-1  heading into the break.

Canada evened the score in the 56th minute after de Guzman took a loose ball 30 yards from the Brazilian goal, and on his second touch fired a shot into the back of the net from 25 yards out.

3-2 it ended in favour of the world giants, though, as Robhino's goal not 10 minutes later would be the last.

Brazil continues its two-match tour of the United States with an upcoming match against Venezuela next weekend in Boston.