Brazil's Ronaldo celebrates his goal against Ghana during their
second-round World Cup match in Dortmund yesterday. The goal was Ronaldo's 15th in World Cups - a record. - REUTERS
DORTMUND, Germany (AP):
RONALDO SCORED his record 15th World Cup goal yesterday and Adriano and Ze Roberto added two more to give Brazil a 3-0 win over Ghana and a spot in the quarter-finals.
Ronaldo became the tournament's all-time leading scorer in the fifth minute when he scored after a brilliant step-over that beat a defender and then Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson. The striker broke the offside trap near midfield after a perfectly timed pass from midfielder Kaka.
"It was never my goal (to break the record)," Ronaldo said. "It just happened match after match."
Brazil, who will face France in the quarter-finals on Saturday in Frankfurt, are in the last eight for the fourth straight time. They won the title last time.
"The big guys are coming to the quarter-finals. It is getting closer and closer. It's getting tougher and tougher," Brazil coach Carlos Albert Parreira said.
BREAKAWAY
Adriano added to Brazil's lead in a breakaway in first-half injury time, using his left thigh to complete a right-flank cross from captain Cafu. Defender Lucio started the play at midfield, giving the ball to Kaka, who then found Cafu on the right side.
Replays showed Adriano appeared to be offside when he touched the ball into the net. Fans heavily booed when the big screen at the stadium showed the replay.
It was Brazil's 200th World Cup goal.
Ze Roberto added the third goal in the 84th, getting past Kingson and finding the open net.
But it was Ronaldo's goal that was the main event. His 15th World Cup goal surpassed Gerd Mueller's record of 14.
"I want to continue to increase the record, but without forgetting that the main goal in the World Cup is winning the title," Ronaldo said. "We know that we are going to face more difficult rivals every time, and we have to be prepared for that."
After allowing the early goal, Ghana pushed forward and pressured Brazil, who were forced to rely on counter-attacks.
NO EASY GAME
"We won the game, but the result doesn't show it was not an easy game at all," Parreira said. "The first half they did well, they should have scored. They had chances."
Although Brazil threatened, the Ghanaians had most of the scoring chances throughout the match, only being stopped by a solid performance by Brazil goalkeeper Dida.
Ghana outshot the Brazilians 25-21, and striker Matthew Amoah had two good chances in the 24th, first just missing a pass from Draman, then shooting wide of the net from the top of the penalty area.
Asamoah Gyan came close in the 35th, sending a shot from inside the area over the crossbar.
Gyan was later sent off in the 81st for diving. He already had received a yellow card.
Dujkovic was red-carded at halftime after complaining to the referee. When asked about what happened, Dujkovic said he told the referee "that it would be better for us if he put a yellow jersey on".
Ghana, who finished second to Italy in Group E, were trying to become only the third African team to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup after Senegal in 2002 and Cameroon in 1990.
Brazil, who won the title four years ago in South Korea and Japan, are looking for their sixth world title.
