Brazilians prefer to focus on new strip

Brazil's new strip garnered more praise in the Brazilian press than the team's performance on Wednesday night - "new clothes and old mistakes" was how the daily Journal do Sports put it. "The new shirt was the biggest attraction in a game full of errors," it went on.

The other major sports paper, Lance, was equally critical, and not just of Brazil's failures but of the Irish too. The Brazilian team simply accepted the Irish style of play, said columnist André Laffredo, and created little.

"Ireland is a country full of legends," he opined. "The most recent of these myths - that the Irish team no longer relies solely on willpower and crosses into the box - was disproven by the men of St Patrick.

"It was 90 minutes of traditional Celtic football, with lots of willpower and little art. Brazil, supposed to possess the magic of the game, were stopped by Brian Kerr's two lines of four men. The Brazilian defence against aerial attack wasn't as scary as their new shirt."

Only one player came in for any praise. Goalkeeper Dida was the hero, thanks to his two saves made "despite being unable to count on the help of the Brazilian full backs".

Meanwhile, Graham Kavanagh was the subject of the cartoon section, illustrated with a picture of Jean-Claude Van Damme. "The Irish didn't want a friendly game," read the caption.

The difference in motivation between the sides was the clear explanation for the poor result in all the Brazilian newspapers though, with the lack of practice time together since the team's selection coming a close second.

Most Brazilians - after the match at least - maintained it wasn't important and so inspired little effort by the players. Ronaldo, compared by one writer to a "prize race horse", should only be let run when it's for real, he said, and it's only natural that his companions will follow his example.

"Parreira pays for his choice" ran another headline in Lance. "A careful manager, he kept the team that won the fifth World Cup. Scolari (the previous Brazil manager) used to squeeze blood and sweat from the team. Parreira wants more head, but the head is turned to the Spanish, English and Italian championships."

The result inspired little optimism for Brazil's impending game against Paraguay, though the difference in style between the Irish and South American football inspires some measure of hope for the Brazilians. Parreira, quoted in Lance, admitted that the Irish aerial style didn't suit Brazil. "South American teams prefer to keep the ball close to the ground, and we shall do better against Paraguay," he said.

Brazil's biggest daily, O Globo, also mourned a "bureaucratic team" which exposed itself to a "naive Irish attack", though it praised the Lansdowne Road crowd's support for their side.

"The audience, who cheered each pass of the ball," said the editorial, "left satisfied and happy to have a pint of Guinness, and with the advantage that on every corner of Dublin there's an Irish pub."