Brazil waltz past Cameroon

George Nishiyama

Brazil brushed aside criticism that they were fielding a "B-class" outfit by beating Cameroon 2-0 in the opening group B match of the Confederations Cup on Thursday.

Striker Washington and substitute Carlos Miguel scored the goals in a five-minute spell early in the second half for a Brazil side lacking star European-based players.

"We didn't come here for revenge. We came here to play football," said Brazilian coach Emerson Leao, referring to Brazil's defeat against Cameroon in the Sydney Olympics.

"But we did arrive here with somewhat of a loss of credibility. And for a football country like Brazil, you can never lose your credibility," Leao added.

Cameroon played well in defence in the first half but the African champions failed to take advantage, missing some good scoring chances.

"In the first half, we had some opportunities, but we were not able to convert them (into goals)," said Cameroon's French coach, Pierre Lechantre.

Salomon Olembe's long shot on goal after 21 minutes missed the target while the Brazil defence denied Parma striker Patrick Mboma a goal in the 40th.

DIFFERENT TEAM

The South American champions were a different team in the second half, speeding up their play and quickly producing results.

"Carlos Miguel knows how to activate the team at the right moment," Leao said.

Washington capitalised on a long pass from midfield after 53 minutes, blasting a shot from 10 metres past Cameroon goalkeeper Boukar Alioum.

Carlos Miguel, a substitute for Vagner, made it 2-0 with a spectacular left-foot volley just four minutes later.

The Cameroon defence were thrown into disarray by the quick play of the Brazilians and Fabio, who substituted for Vampeta, nearly scored a third with a volley after 82 minutes.

The African side failed to make any chances in the second half, relying on individual technique and showing little teamwork.

The match was the first played in Japan of the tournament the country is co-hosting with South Korea as a warm-up to next year's World Cup finals.

It only attracted a crowd of 10,519, far below the capacity of 41,800 the newly built Kashima Stadium boasts.

But tournament officials expressed little concern.

"It's a soccer match at 5.00 p.m. on a weekday. Even the school kids may not be back home. And you also have to remember that Japan is playing later," said one official.

Japan were playing Canada in the day's other group B match in Niigata which kicked off at 7.30 p.m. local time to a packed crowd.