it's a mystical bond between man and machine

Saturday, June 24, 2006 | 2:48 PM

fantastic Brazil v Japan match, as Japan hoped for a short time. Parreira rested five regular starters: Cafu & Emerson, on a yellow card each and at risk of suspension if either got another, Adriano, Ze Roberto and Roberto Carlos. must've been good news for Zico isn't it. but dear me, in come Gilberto Silva, Juninho, Cicinho and Robinho.

Brazil posed all the early threats, as Ronaldo headed wide in front of goal after 7 minutes. a minute later, Japan goalkeeper Kawaguchi pushed Ronaldo's sharp shot away. Kawaguchi hurled himself to his right to save Ronaldo's yet another shot in the 22nd minute. he pushed a shot by Robinho over the bar, deflected a powerful drive by Juninho away. then here comes the shock: Japan scored in the 34th minute. of course, it was only a matter of time before Brazil scored and it came just before half time. Ronaldinho lobbed the ball to the penalty area and Cicinho nodded it into the goal mouth, where Ronaldo headed into the Japanese net. 13th World Cup goal for him, moving into a tie with Just Fontaine. another goal by Juninho and Gilberto each, before Ronaldo matched Gerd Muller's 14-WorldCUP goal record. after 81 minutes, Ronaldo directed the ball into the corner of the net from 20m and made it a 4-1 victory for Brazil.

excellent the knockout matches start tonight.

11pm Saturday 24th June Germany v Sweden
3am Sunday 25th June Argentina v Mexico