Brazil defeats Italy 2-0 in London friendly

Brazil showed their dominance and flair in defeating Italy 2-0 in a friendly in London, England.  Elano and Robinho scored the goals for Brazil who took control in the opening 30 minutes.  It was a shaky Italian backline and some Brazilian flair that marked the opening of the high profile matchup between two of the top teams in the world. 

After a couple of good Italian attacks in the opening five minutes of play, Brazil took control of the match and took advantage of some sloppy Italian play to punish the world champions.  A wonderful combination of passes led to the opening Brazilian goal as Elano finished over a sliding Buffon.

In the 27th minute it was a brilliant individual effort from Robinho that put Brazil up 2-0.  Robinho tracked back and stole the ball from a surprised Andrea Pirlo who made a half-hearted effort to get it back.  Robinho glided into the box and put a great series of moves ending with a hard cut-back to his left where he drove a low shot into the right corner of the net.

Italy looked better in the second half as halftime substitute Guiseppe Rossi made a positive impact on the match.  A wonderful save from Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar kept the Italians on zero as he got across and saved a Luca Toni attempt on goal after Rossi released him with a deft pass with ten minutes to play.  The Italians would press over the final minutes with Pato and Toni in the attack, but were not able to beat Cesar in the Brazilian net.

Both teams get back into World Cup 2010 qualifying next month.  Italy lead Group 8 in Europe and face Montenegro next month, while Brazil sit 2nd in South American qualifying facing a dificult trip to Ecuador next month.