Brazil hand China harsh World Cup lesson
Brazil hand China harsh World Cup lessonBy Brian Homewood
SOGWIPO, South Korea (Reuters) - Brazil chalked up their best win at the World Cup finals since 1986 as the four Rs -- Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo -- scored the goals that gave them a 4-0 victory over China on Saturday.
The four-times world champions survived a sticky opening before cruising to a 3-0 halftime lead with a spectacular Roberto Carlos free kick, a close-range goal by Rivaldo and a Ronaldinho penalty. Ronaldo scored the fourth early in the second half.
It was Brazil's biggest win at the finals since they beat Poland 4-0 in the second round in Mexico in 1986.
They lead group C with six points and will reach the last 16 if Turkey fail to beat Costa Rica on Sunday. Otherwise, they need a point against the Central Americans in their last group match on Thursday to progress to the second round.
Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said he was aware of the gap in experience between the two countries but knew the Chinese team had improved a lot and would begin at a fast pace.
"We knew China would start the match by putting us under pressure, so we decided to wait until after the first 10-15 minutes and then we started to play our game and pass the ball.
"We were technically superior to China so we played our usual game and things went well. We know we are a better team because we are more experienced than China.
"Brazil are playing opponents who lack World Cup experience and are not so difficult to play against.
"But we are improving and we know that our team is getting better match-by-match so I hope we can improve for the next game," he said looking ahead to Costa Rica.
LEARNING CURVE
China coach Bora Milutinovic said he was happier with China's performance against Brazil than after their opening matc