Samba stars too strong for Republic despite spirited first-half display
Giovanni Trapattoni suffered only the fourth loss of his time in charge of the Republic of Ireland in a 2-0 friendly defeat to Brazil at the Emirates Stadium.
The Irish made a good impression particularly in the first-half and had a handful of chances before the unfortunate Keith Andrews put through his own net to hand Brazil the lead a minute before the break.
It was a cruel blow to Trapattoni's men, who emerged for the second half a little dejected and were overrun for the remainder of the game, with Robinho doubling Brazil's lead brilliantly on 76 minutes.
The Manchester City forward, currently on-loan at Santos, finished off a long move of 22 passes as he curled into the bottom corner after substitute Grafite teed him up with a delightful back-heel.
The Republic can take some encouragement that the score remained respectable as they were visibly drained from a vibrant second-half Brazil show which saw five substitutes liven up the contest.
Brazil coach Dunga can look forward to fine-tuning the final preparations for his squad's opening World Cup game against North Korea in Johannesburg on 15th June after this run out on English soil.
The Irish, however, will once again be left to reflect on what might have been - but an encouraging battling performance means they can go into the qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championship with genuine optimism.
The Irish made a good impression particularly in the first-half and had a handful of chances before the unfortunate Keith Andrews put through his own net to hand Brazil the lead a minute before the break.
It was a cruel blow to Trapattoni's men, who emerged for the second half a little dejected and were overrun for the remainder of the game, with Robinho doubling Brazil's lead brilliantly on 76 minutes.
The Manchester City forward, currently on-loan at Santos, finished off a long move of 22 passes as he curled into the bottom corner after substitute Grafite teed him up with a delightful back-heel.
The Republic can take some encouragement that the score remained respectable as they were visibly drained from a vibrant second-half Brazil show which saw five substitutes liven up the contest.
Brazil coach Dunga can look forward to fine-tuning the final preparations for his squad's opening World Cup game against North Korea in Johannesburg on 15th June after this run out on English soil.
The Irish, however, will once again be left to reflect on what might have been - but an encouraging battling performance means they can go into the qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championship with genuine optimism.
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