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Journalism of Courage
World Cup champions Brazil overwhelmed European champions Greece 3-0 in the Confederations Cup 8211; and it could have been worse for the Greeks.
With both teams near full strength, Brazil dominated on goals by Adriano, Robinho and substitute Juninho Pernambucano. In Thursday8217;s other group B match, Mexico rallied to beat Asian champions Japan 2-1 on goals from Zinha and Jose Fonseca. Atsushi Yanagisawa scored early for Japan.
8220;For an opening game, I8217;m satisfied with our performance,8221; Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. 8220;The balance was very good today. Everybody did his job, we played as a team. We8217;ve still got a lot to do before the World Cup, but it was very encouraging.8221;
Brazil pressed for most of the first half before Adriano broke through with a spectacular goal in the 41st. Standing on the right wing, he faked left and right, and then stepped into a left-footed shot that slammed into the net from 25 meters 8211; squeezing in between Greece goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis and the post to his left.
Only 40 seconds into the second half, Brazil8217;s Robinho made it 2-0. After missing several chances in the first half, he scored coming down the right side, knocking the ball in off a pass from Gilberto.
Juninho entered in the 77th, and scored four minutes later on a 25-meter free-kick that curled in high to Nikopolidis8217; right. 8220;It8217;s a big thing just to be here. We did what we could,8221; Greece captain Theodoros Zagorakis said. 8220;We could have done better but it was a great experience for us.8221;
Brazil were missing full-backs Cafu and Roberto Carlos and striker Ronaldo. All three are being rested. Greece were also nearly complete, featuring 18 players from last summer8217;s European Championship team.
