
Brazil were rarely offered any space to play and create from by Croatia who stuck to their gameplan well and out of the 'stars' only Kaka and Ronaldinho offered anything in the way of creative output but were not helped from an inept performance from front men Ronaldo and Adriano - Ronaldo in particular coming under fire from the BBC pundits.
In fact Croatia had several chances themselves with Rangers' Dado Prso looking strong and lively in attack, and although Dida was tested, he was upto the task on each occasion.
Although they startd with three points against their most serious rivals, and they are hindered by the fact everyone knows they can set such high standards, it is very much a case of can (and must) do better.
I didn't catch any of the early action today apart from the goals following the Brazil-Croatia game but the early game today featured three great goals, particular the come from behind goals from South Korea, from Ahn and Chun-Soo Lee setting them up well following the first round of games.

Tomorrow afternoons games round out the first round of matches and we move into the second set with Germany v Poland tomorrow evening, a round of games that prove critical for qualification - will this see a change in the open approach seen over the first week?