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In five friendly matches on Sunday, World Cup participants warmed up. Finally, the Brazilian national team, defending their World Champions title, demonstrated their strength by crushing New Zealand. The African teams Ghana and Ivory Coast also secured convincing victories, while Japan won by a narrow margin against Australia, and the Netherlands played a draw with Australia.
Preparing for the World Cup, the Brazilians, who had not played any friendly matches, decided to test their strength only against New Zealand. In the 43rd minute, Ronaldo led his team forward, but due to a minor injury, the most productive player of the 2002 World Cup did not return to the field after the break. In the second half, Adriano, Ronaldo's strike partner, scored the second goal with a powerful shot from the penalty spot, and the domination was sealed by Kaka and Juninho at the end of the match.
The Asian champions Japan found it tougher against the future rival Brazil, beating Malta with a narrow margin. The winning goal for Japan was scored by forward Keiji Tamada in the second minute after a pass from naturalized Brazilian Alex, marking his first goal for the national team after a year and a half break.
The friendly match between the Netherlands and Australia was nervously contested. The Netherlands took the lead after a goal from Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 10th minute, but Mark Viduka's penalty shot in the 54th minute equalized the score for Tim Cahill. The Australians finished the match with ten men after Luke Wilkshire was sent off the field, while Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder, and Philippe Cocu sustained injuries for the Dutch team.
In the other two matches, African teams drew inspiration from the stars of London's "Chelsea" club - Didier Drogba scored two goals, Kanga Akale added one, and Ivory Coast crushed Slovenia. Michael Essien scored once and provided an assist to Sulley Ali Muntari in Ghana's victory over South Korea by a score of 3-1. Gyan Asamoah scored for Ghana with a penalty kick, while Lee Eul Yong scored a consolation goal for South Korea with a long-range shot.
Sunday's international friendly match results:
Japan 1 - 0 Malta
2' [1 - 0] Keiji Tamada
Netherlands 1 - 1 Australia
10' [1 - 0] Ruud van Nistelrooy
54' [1 - 1] Tim Cahill
61' Luke Wilkshire (Australia) sent off
South Korea 1 - 3 Ghana
35' [0 - 1] Asamoah Gyan (11m.)
49' [1 - 1] Lee Eul Yong
62' [1 - 2] Sulley Ali Muntari
81' [1 - 3] Michael Essien
Ivory Coast 3 - 0 Slovenia
35' [1 - 0] Didier Drogba
36' [2 - 0] Didier Drogba
70' [3 - 0] Kanga Akale
Brazil 4 - 0 New Zealand
43' [1 - 0] Ronaldo
51' [2 - 0] Adriano
86' [3 - 0] Kaka
90' [4 - 0] Juninho
Colombia 2 - 0 Morocco
41' [1 - 0] Hector Hugo Hurtado
90' [2 - 0] Elkin Soto
Macedonia 1 - 0 Turkey
80' [1 - 0] Goran Maznov
