2002 FIFA World Cup (tm) Finals - Results & Fixtures - Costa Rica vs Brazil

13 Jun 2002


Costa Rica	2 - 5	Brazil
	(HT: 1 - 3)

Game Details
Venue Suwon World Cup Stadium	Attendance 38524
Referee Gamal Ghandour (EGY) Assistant Referees Wagih Farag (EGY) Egon Bereuter (AUT)

Game Events
#	Date	Player	Event	Period	Mins	H/A
1	13 Jun 2002	Ronaldo	Goal	First Half	10	H
2	13 Jun 2002	Ronaldo	Goal	First Half	13	A
3	13 Jun 2002	Edmilson	Goal	First Half	38	A
4	13 Jun 2002	Paulo Wanchope	Goal	First Half	39	H
5	13 Jun 2002	Harold Wallace	Player Out	Second Half	1	H
6	13 Jun 2002	Steven Bryce	Substitute In	Second Half	1	H
7	13 Jun 2002	Roland Gomez	Goal	Second Half	11	H
8	13 Jun 2002	Edilson	Player Out	Second Half	12	A
9	13 Jun 2002	Kleberson	Substitute In	Second Half	12	A
10	13 Jun 2002	Juninho Paulista	Player Out	Second Half	16	A
11	13 Jun 2002	Ricardinho	Substitute In	Second Half	16	A
12	13 Jun 2002	Rivaldo	Goal	Second Half	17	A
13	13 Jun 2002	Junior	Goal	Second Half	19	A
14	13 Jun 2002	Mauricio Solis	Player Out	Second Half	20	H
15	13 Jun 2002	Rolando Fonseca	Substitute In	Second Half	20	H
16	13 Jun 2002	Rivaldo	Player Out	Second Half	27	A
17	13 Jun 2002	Kaka	Substitute In	Second Half	27	A
18	13 Jun 2002	Gilberto Martinez	Player Out	Second Half	29	H
19	13 Jun 2002	Winston Parks	Substitute In	Second Half	29	H
20	13 Jun 2002	Cafu	Yellow Card	Second Half	48	A

Match report

An under-strength Brazil cemented their status as tournament favourites with a pulsating 5-2 victory over Costa Rica as they completed a clean sweep of Group C. Goals from Ronaldo, Edmilson, Rivaldo, Junior and a Luis Marin own goal, which Ronaldo later claimed, cancelled out strikes from Paulo Wanchope and Ronald Gomez. Brazil's victory puts them alongside Spain as the only teams so far to race into the round of 16 with an unblemished record, but they still have plenty to work on if they are to claim a fifth world crown. The result spelt the end for the 'Ticos', with Turkey's 3-0 triumph over China just kilometres down the road at the Seoul Stadium ensuring the Europeans go through at the Central Americans' expense. Despite the emphatic scoreline Brazil will not be overly happy. In a wildy fluctuating game full of chance and error their backline, minus Roque Junior, was shaky at best and the holes were exploited by Costa Rica. At the other end Brazil, and Ronaldo in particular, missed a sackful of chances.
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari admitted there were problems that needed ironing out.
"Yes we have been under pressure and when that happens we start to go slower and stop doing what we've been doing in practice," he said.
"We are making mistakes and we know what those mistakes are. We give chances to the opponent but this will be worked on. They are problems that we know about.
"We know our strengths and our weaknesses."
Overall though he said he was content with three wins out of three but played down Brazil firming as favourites after the first-round demise of France and Argentina.
"I am positive in my heart and I understand that people see us as favourites but we do not consider ourselves as such," he said. "I keep telling the players to be humble, that we need to go step by step.
"The next stage will be hard and we are preparing for that."
Rivaldo said Brazil won because of their work rate.
"We won because we ran constantly for 90 minutes and we had confidence in each other," he said.
Ronaldo put it down to the team's physical condition.
"We were in top physical condition and it was a fun match for us to play," he said. "That's the most remarkable enhancement."
Alexandre Guimaraes, the Brazilian-born Costa Rican coach, said he was proud of his team who he said deserved to be in the next round.
"I am very proud and happy with our style," he said. "We came here to show the world the improvemenst in Costa Rican football and today we showed that against one of the best teams in the world."
Brazil started the match minus three regulars - Roberto Carlos, Roque Junior and Ronaldinho and their steadying presence was missed. Costa Rica should have opened the scoring after eight minutes but an unmarked Mauricio Wright sent his header sailing over the bar. Brazil pounced first in the 10th minute when Ronaldo nipped in ahead of two defenders to poke home via a deflection off Marin. It was credited an own goal but Ronaldo has appealed to FIFA. The Inter Milan sharpshooter, who played the full 90 minutes for the first time in the tournament, made it 2-0 minutes later when he shook off his marker to whip the ball through the legs of a hapless defender for his third goal in South Korea. Edmilson made it 3-0 with a spectacular overhead kick as he perfectly picked up a Junior cross seven minutes before half time. Costa Rica pulled one back through Manchester City's Wanchope just before the break and a strike by Costa Rican Ronald Gomez early in the second half looked like a fightback was on. But Brazil brought on Ricardinho for Juninho with half an hour to go and he immediataly made a difference, lashing over a low cross which Rivaldo latched onto for his third goal of the tournament. A minute later and Junior made it 5-2 when he broke clear down the left and rifled a shot past goalkeeper Erick Lonnis.
Brazil are now unbeaten in 10 matches and head to Japan on Friday for the round of 16.

(courtesy of dailysoccer)




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Page created by Christakis Ioannou on 13 June 2002 16:38:17.