Brazil's soccer fans are still awaiting superstar player Ronaldo Nazario to show his killer instinct, while Australia, who lost 2-0 to Brazil on Sunday, are hoping their team will qualify for the next round of the 2006 World Cup.

Ronaldo, known as "The Phenomenon", famously arrived for training overweight, and has only supplied an assisting pass to a Brazilian goal.

In the game against Australia, neither Ronaldo, nor Brazil had a foot on the accelerator. As in previous World Cups, the green-and-yellow Brazil team used a minimum of effort to qualify for the second round of the Cup.

Sunday's two-goal win, following their previous 1-0 victory over Croatia, mean that Brazil has qualified, but the crowd jeered anyway, because the audience expected the spectacular Brazil tactics known as "the beautiful game".

Brazil's rivals agree that Carlos Alberto Perreira, the team's manager, has opted for defensive strategy -- keeping out goals at the expense of scoring.

Croatia and Australia both expected other tactics, filling the mid-field with defensive players giving up on attacking play. Both teams opted for a strategy that split their teams in two: defenders on one side and isolated attackers waiting for a chance to counter attack.

Australia's Dutch manager, Gus Hiddink, who has worked hard to get Australia into three World Cups and secure the team a 3-1 win over Japan in this Cup, got his tactics wrong on Sunday. He had expected an attack from Brazil's strongest four attackers: Adriano, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Robinho.

With one win and one loss, Australia now has to win a place in the second phase by beating Croatia, while Brazil is almost certain to get stronger as time goes on.

As for Ronaldo's weight, time and success will have to show his critics that he was wrong.

Source: Xinhua