With a 3-0 win over Ghana, Brazil advances to the quarter-final round of Germany 2006. France scored two goals in the second half to best Spain 3-1 to advance in World Cup Soccer play.
World Cup Action on June 27, 2006
World Cup Match 55: Brazil (3) vs Ghana (0)
Ronaldo scored the first goal of the game in the 5th minute. He ran onto a ball from Kaka, did a body fake as he approached the goaltender, stepped to the left and slipped the ball into the goal. With that goal Ronaldo became the overall goal leader in the World Cup with 15, and is tied for 2nd in Germany 2006 with 3 goals.
Brazil struck again just before half-time when three of them burst through the Ghanese defense at speed. Cafu sent a flat ball across the penalty area and Adriano tapped it in.
While Brazil was in control of the game, it wasn’t an easy win. Ghana never backed off, pressured their mark and the ball carrier, and attacked when they could.
If Brazil wasn’t formidible enough while playing with 11 men, Ghana had to attempt a comeback with 10 men. Gyan of Ghana was expelled from the game in the 81st minute after receiving his 2nd yellow card of the match.
Three minutes later Brazil scored their 3rd goal of the game. Running onto a long ball struck near the center line by Ricardinho, Ze Roberto managed to run onto the ball and flick it over the oncoming Kingston at the top of the penalty area. Ze Roberto then ran after the ball and tapped it into goal.
Seven of Ghana’s 18 shots were on goal but they were unable to convert. If Ghana can improve the quality of their shots, they would likely advance further at future World Cups. Brazil had 11 shots and 10 of these were on goal. World Cup Game Summary
World Cup Match 56: France (3) vs Spain (1)
Spain struck first when David Villa successfully converted a penalty kick in the 28th minute of the soccer match.
France evened the score in the 41st minute when Frank Ribery ran onto a pass from Patrick Vieira at the top of the penalty area, powered past Casillas on a diagonal run, and fired the ball into the Spanish net.
At the half, the score was one all.
Vieira headed a crossed free kick from the left side of the 6 yard box into the bottom left of the net in the 83rd minute to put his side up by one.
Zinedine Zidane secured the win with a goal in the 92+ minute of play. World Cup Match Summary
Brazil and France will meet in the quarter-finals of the Soccer World Cup on July 1st in Frankfurt (21:00 local time). They last met in the finals of the 1998 World Cup which host France won 3-0.