BRAZIL COAST PAST VIETNAM

Striker Alexandre Pato opened the scoring just six minutes into the match and it took Thiago Neves until the 81st minute to find the net again.

“Vietnam played with a lot of spirit and forced my players to work harder than they did in the friendly match against Singapore,” said Carlos Dunga, the head coach of Brazil.

The Brazilians started well and had a free kick in the third minute, but captain Ronaldinho’s shot looped off a defender into the hands of Phan Van Santos – the Brazilian goalkeeper who received Vietnamese citizenship last year.

In the fifth minute Vietnam’s top striker Le Cong Vinh had a chance to equalize but his shot from 25 meters went just wide.

A minute later Ronaldinho split the Vietnamese defence with a pass that found Pato in a good position inside the box with the AC Milan striker having little difficulty to beat Santos in a one-to-one situation.

In the 10th minute midfielder Phan Van Tai Em took a pot shot from 25 meters out, but was way off target.

At the break, Vietnamese head coach Henrique Calisto threw in forward Nguyen Viet Thang who fired in a volley from inside the box which was tipped wide by Brazilian goalie Renan.

Ronaldinho took a shot from 30 meters in the 61st minute, but his shot was not quite on target.

In the 81st minute substitute, Neves, scored from outside the penalty area, beating Santos.

“The Brazilians proved their superior ranking by converting two of their three opportunities,” said Calisto.