Goals from Diego Souza, Thiago Silva and Taison have handed Brazil a comfortable 4-0 victory over Australia in their friendly contest at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Victoria this afternoon.
Brazil came haring out of the blocks from kickoff and quickly went ahead inside the first minute, Giuliano cleverly stealing possession inside the Australia half before feeding Souza, who made no mistake with a drilled finish underneath Mitchell Langerak.
Following a frantic opening, Australia found themselves a slight foothold in the contest and might have grabbed an equaliser through Bailey Wright, but he could not adjust his body accordingly to beat an on-rushing Diego Alves.
The game was almost played in the opposite fashion to a friendly and moved from end to end at a frenetic pace, this time as Douglas Costa pulled out some remarkable skill to find the run of Paulinho, although the midfielder spooned his effort over the crossbar.
The visitors started the second half in much the same fashion as the first and they found a second goal in the 62nd minute, when Silva reacted quickest after David Luiz had struck the crossbar from a corner by heading over the line from close range.
Brazil made a number of changes and Taison proved to be the most effective, the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder showing a standout burst of pace down the left before being denied by an astute Langerak in the Aussie goal.
Taison was not to be denied, though, coming back just minutes later to make it 3-0 to the visitors, as the 29-year-old completed a memorable team move that involved an audacious back-heel from Paulinho and an adroit finish into the far corner.
The Selecao added their fourth during injury time when Souza broke free to head home a corner and notch his second of the game, much to the disappointment of stopper Langerak, who had enjoyed an impressive showing despite the final scoreline.
Christopher Dodd
