Monday, June 5 2006 15:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Berlin: Brazil thrashed New Zealand 4-0, Dutch players were seething after a physical 1-1 draw against Australia and Ghana showed their World Cup credentials with a 3-1 victory over 2002 semi-finalists South Korea on Sunday.

With just five days to go to the 32-team, June 9 to July 9 football showcase the final touches were being made to preparations by some of the biggest teams.



Brazil had an impressive showing against New Zealand in Geneva with Ronaldo, Kaka and Adriano on target but the skilfull magic quartet, also including Ronaldinho, will have to get back more and graft according to coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.

Holland drew 1-1 with Australia in Rotterdam and though there were injuries to Phillip Cocu, Wesley Sneijder and Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Dutch coach Marco van Basten was initially unphased by the physical approach of the Australians saying it was just part of the game.

All three players had to leave the field and Cocu said afterwards, "They (Australians) went too far. I am all for physical football but certain players were out to cause injury.

"When Viduka tackled me, the ball was nowhere near my feet," he said.

And van Bronckhorst said, "I don't know what they were trying to do but they were playing as though it was a World Cup match. I could miss the World Cup after that tackle (by Luke Wilkshire)."

Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has declared an all-out attacking game plan at the World Cup which starts on Friday but the price of fielding his magic quartet Ronaldo, Kaka, Adriano and Ronaldlinho meant the midfield was shortchanged with veteran defenders Cafu and Roberto Carlos taking up the slack.

"The team played well and dominated New Zealand physically in the second half," said Parreira afterwards. "But we will need to be better than that at the World Cup.



"We have things to improve including the ball out of defence and the co-ordination of the four men up front," he said.

"We also need to improve our concentration and positioning when using the long ball," he said.

However Brazil's final warm-up before the finals did nothing to dispel their mantle of overwhelming favourites to win a record sixth title.

Ronaldo, who scored the first goal in the 42nd minute, had an eventful match in ways he would have wished to avoid. He managed to get blisters on his left foot and he had to change his boots several times before being taken off at half-time.

Team doctor Jose Luis Runco said Ronaldo had blisters serious enough to need treatment during the next few days but he should be able to train normally.



Ghana notched an impressive 3-1 victory over 2002 World Cup semi-finalists South Korea in Edinburgh, continuing their successful build-up to this year's tournament.

Asamoah Gyan's first-half penalty and second-half goals from Sulley Muntari and Michael Essien gave Ratomir Dujkovic's side a confidence-boosting win, with South Korea briefly back on level terms through Lee Eul-yong shortly after the break.



Japan completed their World Cup build-up with a 1-0 victory over lowly Malta on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike from Keiji Tamada.

Tamada was on target in the second minute in Dusseldorf, settling a low-key match that saw a re-shuffled Japanese side start without injured strikers Atsushi Yanagisawa and Naohiro Takahara.

And a double from Chelsea striker Didier Drogba helped Ivory Coast to a 3-0 thrashing of Slovenia in Bondoufle, France.

Iran were the latest team to arrive in Germany, the players greeted by several dozen fans at Friedrichsafen airport on Sunday morning with police fears over protests against the hardline regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proving unfounded.

Meanwhile, one man who says he's green with envy at the World Cup's ability to break down barriers and draw nations together is UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"As the only game in the world that is played in every country and by people of every race and religion, football is one of the few institutions that is as exceptional as the United Nations," Annan wrote in an editorial in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.



As the start of the competition draws ever closer police in Thailand report that illegal bookmakers are moving to neighbouring Cambodia and Myanmar to avoid detection.

"We are trying to prevent gambling during the World Cup, but they are moving across the border to avoid police," said Lieutenant Colonel Subin Boonlek, police chief in Sa Kaeo province on the border of Cambodia.