Carnival affair leaves a glow

Soccer: With Rio's carnival due to get started this weekend the city's population may have expected the word from Dublin to provide a fitting way to get the party rolling. Well, there's sure to be an Irish bar somewhere there where this scoreline will have put smiles on faces. Emmet Malone, Soccer correspondent at Lansdowne Road, reports

Those 44,000 lucky enough to witness the event at first hand certainly won't have any complaints. Sure, a few goals would have been nice and a repeat of the visiting side's recent 3-3 draw with Uruguay would have seemed a more fitting outcome given the open, attacking football produced by both sides. But what we were treated to at Lansdowne Road last night was a friendly of unusual entertainment value in which Ireland displayed the sort of calibre over 90 minutes that comfortably entitled them to a draw with the world champions.

Brazil, of course, hardly went flat out for the victory, but they still gave a good deal more of themselves than a few of last year's visitors for friendly matches. Their star-studded midfield and attack certainly produced enough chances to rule out any arguments afterwards about the vast appearance fee.

For the most part, however, they were matched in every department for commitment if not quite raw talent by an Irish side in which Andy O'Brien did most to upset Brian Kerr's existing pecking order with a commanding display alongside Kenny Cunningham in the centre defence.

If the game started slowly enough Brazil were soon hinting at their capacity to sweep forward at speed. Their ability to create space out of nothing and move the ball at pace more than once left the Irish looking momentarily helpless on the edges of their area, although a combination of determined defending and slightly wayward finishing ensured Shay Given didn't have to make a save before the break.

Just nine minutes in, however, a wonderfully angled ball by Kaka for Ronaldo had eluded O'Brien and left Given looking vulnerable for the first time. Even a glimpse of the bottom corner might well have been enough for the Real Madrid striker to give the visitors the lead, but Cunningham edged across the face of the goal and after the ball was played square to Ronaldinho the shot skipped low and wide.

A couple of Irish corners produced hurried half chances for Irish defenders briefly unmarked in the Brazilian area, but the finishing was much what you would expect in the circumstances.

At the other end, the Irish back four were faring better. Ronaldo's willingness to wander caused them some obvious discomfort, as did the instinctive ability of Ronaldinho and Kaka to pick him out as he accelerated towards the box. But O'Brien and Cunningham continued to handle the pressure coolly and effectively, while Steve Carr also turned in a composed performance.

The Spurs right back was a calming influence, distributing the ball well as Ireland played their way out of defence and overlapping nicely with Matt Holland, who worked hard out on the right but posed little attacking threat.

Up front, Robbie Keane and Clinton Morrison were supplied with plenty of ball and worked hard to make the most of it even if, unlike their Brazilian counterparts, they didn't always seem to be in tune with each other.

Keane was lively throughout and loitered close enough to make Dida nervous at a few of Ireland's set pieces. But it was Morrison who got the home team's first really good chance of the night a minute before the break, when Edmilson turned a hideously misjudged header into his path. With Lucio breathing down his neck it never looked easy for the 24-year-old, but it was still a bad loss of nerve that prompted a weak and poorly directed shot from more than 25 yards out.

Moments later Morrison was at the heart of something that came much closer to paying off when the striker rather neatly flicked on a Graham Kavanagh ball for Carr, who couldn't quite slip the ball past the approaching Dida despite giving himself every chance with a perfect first touch.

Nine minutes into the second period Keane really should have given the hosts the lead. Morrison this time swung in a wonderfully weighted cross from the right and the Spurs striker left Cafu trailing in his wake but, with an almost open goal to aim at, the Dubliner pushed his header well clear of the crossbar.

He and Morrison continued to work hard but they weren't to enjoy another scoring chance quite so clearcut, while Kavanagh's set pieces did little to trouble an occasionally brittle-looking Brazilian defence.

When visiting in 1973 the Brazilians only got paid for winning, and perhaps that was the arrangement last night too, for they displayed an escalating sense of urgency as the second half rolled on without either a goal or even a clearcut sense of superiority to show for their considerable effort.

In the closing 20 minutes they began to provide Given with a little more cause for concern, and Ronaldo really might have beaten the Donegalman in the 75th minute had he not directed his angled shot from the left between the goalkeeper's legs.

The striker recovered from the disappointment swiftly, however, retrieved the ball and fed Ronaldinho, whose chip from just outside the area skimmed the crossbar on its way behind.

The Irish then finished the second half in just the way they had the first, with a flurry. Jason McAteer, on for Andy Reid, whose performance on the left had been understandably less influential than his debut against Canada back in November, was a little lucky to beat Ze Roberto out on the right but he then did very well to push the ball past Roque Junior and into the path of Keane. The angle was tight, and perhaps the striker might have been better advised to pull the ball across the face of the goal, but in the end he went for goal and his shot was not too far wide of the right-hand post.

The Brazilians almost had the last word in the seconds that followed, but that went to O'Brien, who blocked quite brilliantly after Ronaldo looked to have set Kaka up from very close range for a winner that would have sparked celebrations a few thousand miles away but would have done a desperate injustice to a fine Irish performance.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle Utd); Carr (Tottenham), O'Brien (Newcastle Utd), Cunningham (Birmingham City), O'Shea (Manchester Utd); Holland (Charlton Ath), Kavanagh (Cardiff City), Kilbane (Everton), Reid (Nottingham Forest); Morrison (Birmingham City), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur). Subs: McAteer (Sunderland) for Reid (63 mins).

BRAZIL: Dida; Cafu, Lucio, Roque Junior, Roberto Carlos; Kleberson, Gilberto Silva, Ze Roberto; Ronaldinho, Kaka; Ronaldo. Subs: Edmilson for Gilberto Silva (14 mins), Julio Baptista for Kleberson (half-time).

Referee: A Frisk (Sweden).