Brazil A defeat Brazil B

When the match ended, the two No 10s embraced and exchanged jerseys. In that intimate gesture held special by all footballers, Stephen Appiah and Ronaldinho, who usually occupy different constellations, were on the same planet.

When the match ended, the two No 10s embraced and exchanged jerseys. In that intimate gesture held special by all footballers, Stephen Appiah and Ronaldinho, who usually occupy different constellations, were on the same planet.

Indeed, that was the case for all of Tuesday when the world tuned in to watch Brazil and Ghana play their second-round match here at Dortmund. The match itself may have been a bit of a let-down, an off-colour Brazil running out 3-0 winners, but for those 90 minutes football proved that two countries who have little else, and little else to offer the world, can still have enough.

Brazil showed the world the inverse correlation between economic clout and being world champions in football. In the past two weeks a succession of underrated teams from the world8217;s poorest, most unstable countries have played passionate, if not overly skillful, football.

8220;Today is proof that we can stand, even if for some time, at the top of the world,8221; says journalist David Kyei. 8220;Yes we lost but the world was watching what Ghana can do. That doesn8217;t happen too much, you know.8221;

Ask Felix Paulista, a supporter who8217;s come from Sao Paulo, the same question and he offers this: 8220;It8217;s great. We are poor countries but in football your wealth is in your feet and we have great feet.8221;

And, he could have added, perform great feats.

The strange synergy between these two nations goes beyond the people: Lonely Planet describes Ghanaians as the 8220;friendliest people in West Africa8221; and Brazil is a by-word for party time.

Their ties begin with Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazil8217;s coach: his first job, at the age of 23, was to coach the Ghana national team.

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That was back in the 1960s, when Ghana were winning everything in African football; Parreira taught them how to play the one-touch game, from which they got their nickname 8220;Brazil of Africa.8221;

The ties continue with Abedi Pele, Ghana8217;s 8212; and arguably Africa8217;s 8212; greatest footballer who took the master8217;s name and today enjoys his friendship as well.

Ghana8217;s fortunes dipped since then and it is only now, 40 years on, that the seeds that Parreira sowed have taken fruit at the highest level. Over the past fortnight Ghana have vanquished the Czech Republic 8212; a new country but a rich World Cup history 8212; and the US, where the average per capita income is 20 times that in West Africa, whose players live a life Ghana8217;s motley crew can only dream of.

The prediction of a World Cup winner from Africa may still be fanciful, and Ghana8217;s defeat today means Africa again have failed to move beyond the World Cup quarter-finals, but the world sits up when Africa plays.

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8220;So long, the world was talking only of Brazilian, or European style of football. Now, they will talk of an African style,8221; says Angolan journalist Honorista Da Silva. He was here, as were journalists from Ivory Coast, Tunisia and Togo, to cheer on their brother Africans. 8220;The world watches Africa on TV only when there is violence or war or starvation. Now they watch us score goals.8221;