Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said
he was satisfied after his world champions were held to a 1-1 draw by
Croatia.
The Croats took the lead in the 32nd minute through Niko Krankjar, the
son of Croatia's manager, with Ricardinho levelling ten minutes later.
"We just got a result against a decent Croatian side," said Parreira.
"This was good preparation for us for our next World Cup qualifier
against Chile," added Parreira whose 2002 world Cup winners are coasting
to Germany 2006 needing just three points from their last three
qualifiers.
But he expressed concern about two of his star players, Ronaldo and
Adriano.
"Ronaldo and Adriano weren't at their normal level. The game against
Chile is only in a fortnight and hope that they'll be in better physical
condition and more motivated after training for their respective clubs."
The wet weather conspired against any slick moving action, the last time
Brazil had encountered such conditions, in the Confederations Cup final
against Argentina in Frankfurt in June, the stadium roof had kept them
dry.
Brazil made the first move with a Roberto Carlos freekick going close,
then Ronaldo stirred the Croatian keeper into action with a shot in the
ninth minute.
Having contained the Brazilians Croatia fought back with skipper
Kranjcar putting them in the lead with a shot when his shot hit the post
and he pounced on the rebound to foil Brazil keeper Dida.
But Croatia only held the lead for ten minutes when Ricardinho produced
a neat freekick which flew into the back of the hosts' net.
Parreira brought on Real Madrid's new recruit Robinho in the second half
but it was his teammate Ronaldo who fluffed a chance in the 57th minute. |