For the record: Brazil vs Ghana

Editor's note: By the time next World Cup comes along, this minute-by-minute account will be a really interesting read!
Second round: Brazil v Ghana
Brazil 3 - Ghana 0 Ronaldo 5', Adriano 44', Ze Roberto 86'
By Paul Doyle in Guardian Tuesday June 27, 2006
The word on the street in Accra Full-time:
It's all over, it ended with Brazil performing party tricks around Ghana's box, but that didn't relfect the previous 85 minutes, in which Ghana gave as good as they got - except when it came to finishing: Ghana were wasteful, Brazil ruthless.
91 mins: They're turning onthe magic now: Ricardinho just played Cafu through with a sublime back-heel. Kingston saved bravely again.
90 mins: Appiah bursts through the middle and has a great chance to nab a consolation goal. But he spanked it over the bar.
89 mins: Sensational move from Brazil, zinging the ball around the box before Juninho clips it through to the overlapping Cafu, who attempts to chip it over the keeper. But Kingston makes another tremendous stop. 4-0 would have been exceedingly harsh on Ghana.
88 mins: Who would have thought it? Ronaldo's still full of running! He sprinted on to a neat Ricardinho ball and unleashed a pile driver from 12 yards. Excellent one-handed save by Kingston.
87 mins: Roberto Carlos shoots from inside his own half. It was not a worth a try.
86mins: Brazil 3-0 Ghana Not a bad way to run down the clock! Having dinked theball around casually for a minute or two, Brazil suddenly pulled out the killer long ball, Ricardinho looping it over the top for Ze Roberto, who took it around the keeper and rolled it into the empty net. Deadly simplicity.
84 mins: Brazil are being booed intensely by the crowd as they knock the ball sideways,clearly just running down the clock.
82 mins: Ricardinho trundles on for Kaka.
81 mins: Ah yes, the obligatory red card. Gyan clashes with Juan in the box, then goes to ground and bays for a penalty. It was never a foul and was a pathetic attempt to claim otherwise. The striker ends what has been an impressive tournament for him by stupidly picking up a second booking.
79mins: Useful cross from Juninho, which Pappoe almost heads beyond his own keeper. Fine save by Kingston!
77 mins: Mensah releases Gyan with a fine pass, and the forward is clear through. Will he sky it? No, he's drilled low and on target. But Dida saves.
75 mins: Appiah carefully directs another shot into the fourth tier.
72 mins: Yet again, Ghana work themselves into a threatening position only to be undone by hasty crossing/shooting. I put that slash there because I'm not sure what Pappoe was trying to do a few seconds ago.
70 mins: Kingston charges out of his box to head the ball clear as Ze Roberto tried to latch ontoa hopeful punt from the back. Yes, Brazil have been doing a lot of that this afternoon.
66 mins: Pantsil raids down the right, skins Roberto Carlos, then loses his compsoure and sends his cross into the stands.
65 mins: Wonderful exchange between Appiah and Gyan, before the former slips it through to Amoah. His low shot is well saved by Dida, who gets up smartly to parry the rebound to.
61 mins: A rare foray forward from Brazil. Ronaldo's buster is blocked by Mensah.
59 mins: Ghana substitution: Derek Boateng replaces Addo.
58 mins: Ghana continue to dominate possession. A teasing Pantsil cross forces Juan to concede a corner. Muntari swings it in, and Pantsil rises totally unmarked to head wide from eight years.
Adriano is replaced by the quite brilliant Juninho - now there's a man who could get into any side in the world: and should start for Brazil every time. However, he's not a striker, which suggests Brazil are switching from 4-4-2 to a more cagey 4-5-1. A tribute to Ghana and no mistake.
55 mins: The first bit of wizardry from Ronaldino. The ever-smiling genius bamboozled the defender before dinking a lovely ball through to Roberto Carlos, who blasted straight at the keeper from 10 yards.
52 mins: Gyan and Amoach combine again before knocking it wide to Draman. But instead of cross, the winger opts to shoot. You know where it landed, don't you?
49 mins: More slinky interplay between Amoah and Gyan. But it leads to yet another wayward shot.
48 mins: Gyan collects a yellow for booting the ball into the crowd in protest at a decision going against him.
47 mins: Ghana continue to attack with style. Gyan's charge is halted by Cafu's hand. Naturally, the ref waves 'play on'.
46 mins: Brazil have made a change during the break, hauling off Emerson to replace him with Gilberto Silva. Wonder if the players "kicked up a stink"?
Half-time: The referee blows for half-time but it's barely audible above the sustained booing from a crowd who are rightly infuriated by the second goal.
44 mins: Brazil 2-0 Ghana Injustice! Lucio charged forward and fed Cafu down the right. He centred to Adriano, who tapped it home from a clearly offside position! Another scandalous decision in this increasingly farcical World Cup.
42 mins: Juan becomes the second Brazilian in the book. He clattered into Addo, conceding a free 25 yards out. Appiah lines it up ... and curls it just over.
40 mins: Muntari, who's having a stormer, wins another corner for Ghana. He whips it in himself and Mensah meets it on the full just three yards out! He steers it downwards ... but it bounces of Dida's foot and out! The keeper knew nothing about it and Ghana are denied by wretched luck!
37 mins: Another yellow for Ghana, Eric Addo copping a card for scything down Adriano. Roberto Carlos steps up to take it. Ronaldinho wisely pushes him away. Then smacks itmiles over the bar himself. It's what Roberto would have wanted.
33 mins: The equaliser is coming, I tell you! Emerson goofed on the right, and Pantsil swings the ball into the Amoah, who twists past Lucio superbly, but scoops his shot over the bar. He stumbled before shooting, after Lucio made contact with an outstretched leg: if he'd gone down there, it would have been a definite penalty. Not that that's something you can guarantee at this World Cup.
28 mins: After more splendid approach work from Ghana, Amoah wallops the ball straight at Dida. This is spirited stuff from the Africans, who, contrary to earlier impressions, are certainly not out of this game. They'll have to watch the card count, mind: Pantsil has just become their third player booked after tripping Kaka as the Brazilian was about to launch a counter-attack. 25 mins: Muntari dances past the static Brazilian defence, but fails to secure the reward is run deserved by blazing high and wide.
23 mins: Heroic tackle by Eric Addo, almost Essien-esque. He brought an abrupt endto Kaka's gallop towards goal.
22 mins: Ghana are mounting a mini-revival here, and could have equalized if Appiah's sweet pass into the box had been, well, a little sweeter: Gyan stretched but missed it by an inch. Moments later, picked out Amoah, who was left unmarked by the slack Brazilian defender. The striker fired narrowly wide from 15 yards.
19 mins: Decent bit of pressure from Ghana, which comes to an end when Amoah tees up Gyan, whose first touch is shoddy and subsequent shot even worse.
17 mins: Muntari takes a tumble by the touchline, some 25 yards from the Brazilian goal, and earns a free-kick. He'll take it himself. Midfielder workhorse Ronaldinho boots it clear, but only as far as Draman, who wellies it goalwards. Dida tips it over for a corner.
15 mins: Roberto Carlos delivers an exquisite 50-yard pass to Cafu on the far side. The 89-year-old full-back takes it in his stride and hurtles into the box but the keeper rushes off the line to snuff out the danger. Probably not for long, though, Brazil are rampant. If Ghana don't get it together soon, this could turn into an unsightly slaughter.
13 mins: Kaka sends Adriano scampering through on goal. The defence is again at sea. The striker skips past the keeper but lets the ball run a little too far ahead of him so dives. The referee isn't fooled and awards a fully-deserved yellow card.
10 mins: Muntari booked for chopping down Lucio.
8 mins: Well, Ghana are trying to re-compose themselves after that hammer blow and are zipping the ball around competently. Just then,Amoah bangs it into touch when under no pressure.
5 mins: Brazil 1-0 Ghana Oh dear. As the Ghanaian defence charges out to the half-way line in a misguided attempt to play offside, Kaka slips a fine ball through to Ronaldo, and thebig-boned striker rounded the goalkeeper and slotted it home, becoming the most prolific goalscorer in World Cup history in the process. Hats off.
3 mins: Ghanaian fans exult as their team raids forward for the first time.
Matthew Amoah crosses from the right, but too long for Gyan in the middle. Still, atleast they don't look overawed.
2 mins: Brazil scorch forward from the off, and Kaka picks out Ronaldo (it would be hard to miss him) in the box. He's clean through on goal ... but the linesman's flags for offside. Replays shows the decision was abominable. One of this World Cup's defining patterns continues then. 1 mins: Brazil kick off, Ronaldo knocking it to Adriano two centimetres away. Found his man well. The beautiful game in full effect.
3:56pm: The teams saunter out and dutifully line up for their respective national anthems. The Brazil one is first. Surely you all know it by now? A breezy number that lulls and jumps along and, most importantly, is short.
Then comes the Ghana track, a sterner affair that nonetheless hints at fun towards the end.
Preamble:
OK, so Ghana were swashbuckingly brilliant when battering the Czech Republic and then proved they've steel to go with their sense of adventure by overpowering the brutal USA ... but they couldn't really dump out Brazil, could they?
Reigning champions, been-at-the-last-three-finals, magic-quartet-boasting Brazil? The bookies sure don't think so: the Seleçao(ooooooh!) are 1-4 on for a win, while you can get up to 12-1 on the Black Stars.
What's more, the straight-talking, wonky-shooting Roberto Carlos doesn't think so either. "Name me one country that has won more World Cups than us?" bellowed the not very thoughtful Little Buddha in the build-up to this game. "How many have Ghana won? None. I cannot conceive even for one second of them beating us. We will progress and then we'll beat Spain, who are going to knockout France. Then we'll take on Germany or Argentina, and we'll beat them too."
For whatever my opinion's worth (nothing I guess, otherwise this would be a pay-per-readservice), it is this: the return of Asamoah Gyan and the excellent Sulley Muntari, combined with the class of Stephen Appiah, will give the Ghanaians more offensive power than any of the sides Brazil have faced so far. They will score.
But Brazil have just too much talent and will score more. 4-2 to the SouthAmericans.
Team talk: 1. Let there be no mistake: PSV's Eric Addo is a fairly rotten replacement for the majestic Michael Essien, who, if Jose Mourinho has been watching any of this tournament rather than spending the entire summer gazing in the mirror (which I'm not ruling out), will be assigned a much more driving role at Chelsea next season. It is patently absurd that such a supremely influential player should be reduced to the role of water-carrier for the over-rated Frank Lampard. Don't you agree? Thanks.
2. Interesting to see that Emerson has returned to the Brazilian line-up at the expense of Gilberto Silaa, despite the Carlos Alberto Parreira's comments (picked up Brazilian journalists, but later denied by the manager) that, "I really like Gilberto, but if I leave Emerson out, the lads kick up stink."
Will these little divisions start to tear the Brazilians apart if Ghana take the lead?
Teams: Brazil:1-Dida; 2-Cafu, 3-Lucio, 4-Juan, 6-Roberto Carlos; 5-Emerson, 11-Ze Roberto, 8-Kaka,10-Ronaldinho; 9-Ronaldo, 7-Adriano
Ghana: 22-Richard Kingston; 15-JohnPaintsil, 6-Emmanuel Pappoe, 5-John Mensah, 7-Shilla Illiasu; 18-Eric Addo,10-Stephen Appiah, 23-Haminu Dramani, 11-Sulley Muntari; 14-Matthew Amoah,3-Asamoah Gyan
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)