Goalless Brazil, Portugal advance

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A match that had all the ingredients for a pot-boiler ended in a goalless draw as the safety-first approach of both the coaches ensured Brazil and Portugal shared the spoils in a booking-littered game at the Moses Mabhida Stadium here on Friday.

Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz started with Cristiano Ronaldo playing the lone striker’s role, while Dunga, with one eye on the next round, rested Robinho and Elano. Kaka’s absence due to a red card in the last match meant the Brazilians were lacking the final incisive pass as Julio Baptista failed to prise open the Portuguese backline.
Dunga also took off hard man Felipe Melo in the 42nd minute, seconds after he picked up a yellow card for fouling Pepe. The Juventus defensive midfielder was earlier at the receiving end of a crunching high-tackle from the Real Madrid defender a few minutes earlier – which saw the lanky centreback booked. On being cautioned, Melo sarcastically applauding the referee a la Wayne Rooney.
Dunga had seen enough and sent in Josue to save Melo, who has a lengthy disciplinary record, for the bigger battles ahead.
Both teams qualified for the next round. Brazil ended top of the group on seven points, while Portugal finished with five points – one ahead of Ivory Coast.
Brazil monopolised possession in the first-half and had 64% of the share. However, they failed to translate their hold over the ball into goals.
The trigger-happy Daniel Alves, who was guilty of quite a few wasted long-rangers, got the first opportunity in the sixth minute, but his effort from 25 yards out was always going over the cross bar.
After withstanding the early pressure, Portugal created their first chance in the 14th minute. Winger Fabio Coentrao broke down the left flank with purpose and his testing cross left the normally decisive Julio Cesar in two minds – whether to collect the ball or punch it out. In the end he was able to do neither, only succeeding in the parrying the ball to Danny on the edge of the box who failed to make the most of it.
Brazil should have gone ahead in the 30th minute had rookie striker Nilmar, who started in place of Robinho, been a little bit luckier. A peach of a lifted pass from Luis Fabiano at the right edge of the penalty box outfoxed three Portuguese defenders to reach the Villarreal striker whose first powerful left-footer rebounded of the crossbar and was cleared by Ricardo Carvalho.
Brazil got another great chance in the 40th minute. A perfectly weighted cross by Maicon from the edge of the right flank reached Luis Fabiano, but the Sevilla striker’s header bounced into the turf over the crossbar. Portugal almost went ahead against the run of play on the hour mark. A swift counter-attack engineered by Ronaldo’s 40-yard run from within his own half almost proved to be the difference.