OFC AUCKLAND: The Oceania Football Confederation today confirmed the match officials to officiate at the 2004 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Australia and New Zealand from 14-22 January 2004.

The tournament will see ten teams from the Oceania region placed in two groups playing a round robin format on a league system. The winner of Group A, played at Marconi Stadium in Sydney will play off home and away against the winner of Group B, played at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on 26 and 30 January 2004.

The winner of the home and away playoff will gain direct entry to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games football tournament. Previously, the Oceania champion had to playoff against another Confederation for entry to the Olympics. In 2000, Australia qualified automatically as Olympic hosts while New Zealand were beaten by South Africa in the final playoff to decide a berth to the Sydney Olympics.

The women's OFC Olympic qualifiers will kick off in Vanuatu in March 2004 with entries and match schedule to be confirmed in the new year.

The following match officials have been approved to officiate at the 2004 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Match Officials

Group A: Sydney, Australia
Match Commissioner: 	`Ahongalu Fusimalohi (Tonga)
Referee Inspector:	Barry Such (Australia)
Referees:				Assistant Referees:
1. Charles Ariiotima (Tahiti)		1. Michel Angot (Tahiti)
2. Derek Rugg (New Zealand)		2. Paul Dunham (New Zealand)
3. Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)		3. Wayne Stapley (New Zealand)
4. Ron Wilbur (Vanuatu)		4. Michael Mouauri (Cook Islands)
5. Lencie Fred (Vanuatu)		5. Tony Maltetamat (Vanuatu)
6. Neil Fox (New Zealand)		6. Tevita Vea (Tonga)
Group B: Auckland, New Zealand
Match Commissioner:	Madiu Andrew (Papua New Guinea)
Referee Inspector:	Ken Wallace (New Zealand)
Referees:				Assistant Referees:
1. Constantinos Diomis (Australia)	1. Neil Poloso (Solomon Islands)
2. Simon Micallef (Australia)		2. Hillary Ani (Papua New Guinea)
3. Leone Rakaroi (Fiji)			3. Benjamin Wilson (Australia)
4. Intaz Shah (Fiji)			4. John Peacock (Australia)
5. Gidas Bayung (Papua New Guinea)	5. Dewan Chand (Fiji)
6. Andrew Moli (Solomon Islands)	6. Collin Auvele (Samoa)

The match schedule for the 2004 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament is as follows:

Match Schedule:

Group A (all kick-off times are local)

Wednesday, 14 January 2004

Round 1:

Papua New Guinea vs Solomon Islands 5:00pm

Australia vs Samoa 7:30pm

Fiji bye

Friday, 16 January 2004

Round 2:

Australia vs Papua New Guinea 5:00pm

Solomon Islands vs Fiji 7:30pm

Samoa bye

Sunday, 18 January 2004

Round 3:

Papua New Guinea vs Fiji 5:00pm

Samoa vs Solomon Islands 7:30pm

Australia bye

Tuesday, 20 January 2004

Round 4:

Samoa vs Fiji 5:00pm

Australia vs Solomon Islands 7:30pm

Papua New Guinea bye

Thursday, 22 January 2004

Round 5:

Samoa vs Papua New Guinea 5:00pm

Australia vs Fiji 7:30pm

Solomon Islands bye

Group B (all kick-off times are local)

Wednesday, 14 January 2004

Round 1:

American Samoa vs Tonga 5:00pm

New Zealand vs Cook Islands 7:30pm

Vanuatu bye

Friday, 16 January 2004

Round 2:

New Zealand vs American Samoa 5:00pm

Tonga vs Vanuatu 7:30pm

Cook Islands bye

Sunday, 18 January 2004

Round 3:

Cook Islands vs Vanuatu 5:00pm

New Zealand vs Tonga 7:30pm

American Samoa bye

Tuesday, 20 January 2004

Round 4:

Tonga vs Cook Islands 5:00pm

American Samoa vs Vanuatu 7:30pm

New Zealand bye

Thursday, 22 January 2004

Round 5:

American Samoa vs Cook Islands 5:00pm

New Zealand vs Vanuatu 7:30pm

Tonga bye

Final Play-off:

Monday, 26 January, 2004

First Playoff:

Group A winner vs Group B winner

* venue & kick-off time (tbc)

Friday, 30 January, 2004

Second Playoff:

Group B winner vs Group A winner

* venue & kick-off time (tbc)

FIFA: The 52nd and Final match of the FIFA World Youth Championship UAE 2003 was billed as the most prolific attack, Brazil, versus the meanest defence, Spain.

But in the end, the highlight of the 23rd day's play turned out to be a far more complicated affair: the 4th-minute sending off of Spanish centre-half Melli finally proved decisive as a Fernandinho goal three minutes from time gave the South Americans a record-equalling fourth youth crown in front of 55,000 fans at the Zayed Sports City stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Earlier, Colombia, FIFA Fair Play winners, triumphed over Argentina to grab third-place.

It was a case of hero turned villain though for Fernandinho. Three minutes after scoring and 20 after entering the field, the midfielder was given his marching orders after a scuffle. Coach Paqueta, though, will have nothing but sweet dreams tonight and magic memories forever saved on the camcorder he has carried with him since leading the U-17 side to glorious victory only a few months ago in Finland. Against the same team, it was the same scoreline - though this time he was forced to wait 80 more minutes for the decisive strike.

The first half was a tale of two Daniels. Carvalho, who had released Nilmar on goal before he was brought down by Melli, and Alves, the roving right-back and adidas bronze ball winner who plays in Seville - the same city as the departed Spanish defender. With his cultured left foot, Carvalho posed constant danger to a nervous Furia rearguard, while only a spectacular save onto his crossbar by Riesgo kept out Alves' flying scissor-kick and a lick of paint from a wickedly bent free kick.

Spain, like Brazil, may be without some of their star players for this tournament but team spirit has carried them through and in striker Sergio Garcia, the Europeans had an able deputy to Fernando Torres. The Barcelona man has linked up wonderfully well with Barcelona clubmate Andres Iniesta and against the odds and an extra man, the duo came closest to breaking down the Brazilian defence.

But the champions of four years ago were to be caught on a corner, from a similar situation as the first half when Adailton had struck the crossbar, with Fernandinho racing in to thunder his header past Riesgo and high into the net. Paqueta was the only man sitting as the crowd jumped out of their seats in joy.

Minutes later and before the presentations and fireworks, the happy Brazilians were lapping a stadium with more than its fair share of yellow shirts, basking in the glory of another victory. And among a tear-stricken Spanish side there was a touching moment as defender Carlos Garcia embraced the referee. "Espana, Espana" rang out from the Spanish section.

Colombia grab third

It was a fine opening act before the main performance. Both teams bowed out of the tournament on a high attacking at will and entertaining the packed crowd at the Zayed Sports City stadium to the very best of South American skill. The same nations had competed for third spot in the FIFA World U-17 Championship in Finland in August where Argentina won out on penalties. But it was the Cafeteros who picked up bronze this time for their best-ever finish at a FIFA tournament, capping an exhilarating year for Colombian youth sides.

Heavily involved was a player who had also appeared in Finland - Harrison Otalvaro. Getting his first run out in the finals, playing just behind the front two, the impish midfielder set up the first, on 16 minutes, with a sweet clipped pass that Erwin Carrillo headed brilliantly into the top corner from 15 yards. And after Osmar Ferreyra had curled a spectacular equalising free kick on the stroke of half-time, the 17-year old, teed up Edixon Perea to shoot with Jaime Castrillon banging in the saved effort.

Argentina pulverised the Colombian goal with time running out but Hector Landazuri, courageous and agile, kept all at bay. As the final whistle blew, the goalkeeper led Reinaldo Rueda's youngsters over to the Colombian section of the massive crowd where they danced a jig of thanks while the fans beat their drums even louder, presenting the team with a giant yellow, blue and red Colombian flag.

At the end of the day's play, the giant scoreboard in the imposing stadium flashed "CONGRATULATIONS" in huge letters. Not only to Brazil but to the four teams and all the nations that have graced the turf at UAE 2003. "SEE YOU IN THE NETHERLANDS 2005".

ASA: OFC match officials, Australian referee Matthew Breeze, as well as assistant referees Matthew Cream and Nathan Gibson, have been rewarded by FIFA for their excellent performances by being appointed to this weekends' 3rd / 4th play-off final at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. The play-off for the 3rd / 4th place will be played as the curtain-raiser to the final.

The match is their fourth and most prestigious appointment after the trio first controlled the Group E match between Saudi Arabia and Ireland in Al Ain then followed this with a Group D match between Japan and Colombia at the Al-Maktoum Stadium in Dubai and finally the Group F match between USA and Korea Republic in Abu Dhabi.

The FIFA appointment for the Australians caps a fantastic year for our refereeing ranks, with 2003 seeing 2 other significant international recognitions. Firstly, Australia's representatives at the 2003 FIFA

Confederations Cup - referee Mark Shield and assistant referee Jim Ouliaris - were appointed to the 3rd / 4th play-off final between Colombia and Turkey at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, St Etienne, France on Saturday 28 June 2003.

In addition, three female Australian match officials - Brisbane based referee Tammy Ogston, as well as assistant referees' Airlie Keen of Adelaide and Jacqueline Leleu of Rockhampton - were appointed to the 3rd / 4th play-off final at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup between host nation United States and Canada, played at the Home Depot Center, Los Angeles on Saturday 11 October 2003.

Breeze, who comes from Sydney, Adelaide-based Cream and Gibson of Taree (NSW) are all making their first appearance at a FIFA international tournament.

COURTESY FIFA: The 13th FIFA World Player Gala, broadcast in over 160 countries and taking place in Basel (Switzerland) for the very first time so as to focus additional attention on the event itself as well as the "Match Against Poverty" shortly afterwards at the St Jakob Park, has ended the suspense and revealed the identities of the winners of various end-of-year FIFA awards.

As well as their love of the beautiful game, Birgit Prinz and Zinedine Zidane already share the rare honour of being crowned world champions, albeit five years apart. And from now on, the German goal-getter and the French wizard will be able to say that they have something else in common: they both won FIFA World Player of the Year titles in 2003.

FIFA Top Team 2003 Brazil

FIFA Best Mover 2003 Bahrain

FIFA Presidential Award The Iraqi football community

FIFA Fair Play Award The Fans of Celtic FC

This is almost becoming a habit for the Frenchman and he has equalled the record of his Real Madrid team-mate Ronaldo, who has also won the title on three occasions. Birgit Prinz on the other hand takes the laurels for the very first time. The award rounds off an extraordinary year for the striker, coming just two months after Germany's first FIFA Women's World Cup title following victory over Sweden in the Final in Los Angeles.

With 264 points, "Zizou" fended off the challenge of his French international team-mate, Thierry Henry (186 pts), and 2002 FIFA World Player of the Year, Brazil's Ronaldo (176). Meanwhile, Birgit Prinz turned the tables on Mia Hamm, who had beaten her to the title last year, with a total of 268 points (compared to 133 for the American). Sweden's Hanna Ljungberg (88 points) finished third in the vote (see www.fifa.com for a full rundown of results). 100 national team coaches cast their votes for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year 2003 and 142 took part in the men's vote.

The FIFA Presidential Award 2003 was presented to the Iraqi football community, which was represented at the ceremony by the President of the Iraqi Football Association, Mohammed Hussein Saeed, the German coach of the Iraqi national team, Bernd Stange, and national team captain, Naji Husam. President Joseph S. Blatter thus underlined his admiration for the tireless devotion of all those involved in football in Iraq and also offered encouragement for the development of football in the Asian nation (click here for more details on FIFA's support for Iraqi football). "When one of our members experiences a period as trying as that endured by Iraqi football, it is FIFA's duty to step up its support. That is the principle of solidarity that I talk about so often, which constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of the House of FIFA. FIFA has simply acknowledged the eagerness of the entire international football family to recognise the courage of Iraq's footballers," Joseph S. Blatter commented.

FIFA's campaign to promote Fair Play also had an impact on the year 2003, most notably as a result of its new slogan: "My Game is Fair Play". In addition to these words, the year also saw numerous examples of Fair Play and one of them was nominated for the 2003 FIFA Fair Play Award. The fans of Celtic FC were therefore honoured for their extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour at the UEFA Cup Final in Seville, which pitted the Scottish club against FC Porto. Despite losing the match, the "Bhoys" supporters, around 35,000 of whom travelled to Spain without even having a ticket for the match, celebrated in the stands and on the streets of the Andalusian city with passion and joy, helping to further underline that football and peaceful celebration can go together hand-in-hand. The trophy was presented to Peter Lawwell, the club's Executive Director, and Eddie Toner, a member of the Celtic FC Supporters Association.

Finally, the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking confirmed Brazil as the team of the year. The Seleçao has not been ousted from top spot in the ranking since the 2002 FIFA World Cup^TM finals. The mover of the year in the 2003 ranking was the Bahrain national team. Ricardo Teixeira, President of the Brazilian football association and a FIFA Executive Committee member, Brazilian international Ronaldo, and Sheikh Ziyad Bin Faisal Al-Khalifa, a member of the executive committee of the Bahrain Football Association, accepted the respective awards at the gala.

AUCKLAND: The foundation of the OFC "Indigenous" Talented Coaches Scheme has been laid with the closing of the first Senior License Coaching Course in Auckland, New Zealand on 12 December.

The course involving elite coaches from OFC's member island nations was a resounding success and this was re-iterated by both participants and FA coaching instructor, Alan Gillett, at the closing dinner.

Mr Gillett thanked the participants for their enthusiasm and hard work during the ten days of intensive learning - theoretical and practical - which culminated with satisfying results in the final exam. He also took time out to thank OFC administrators in particular OFC Development Manager, Tai Nicholas and General Secretary Josephine King for their support.

Speaking on behalf of the coaches, Solomon Islands Football Federation technical director, Eddie Ngava, thanked Mr Gillett and the Football Association (England) for their assistance. He also thanked the OFC for its initiative in developing elite coaches to higher levels of accreditation through the inaugural scheme which is set to be implemented over the next two years. Coaches taking part in the first course will be followed up and monitored from 2004 onwards through additional courses.

"The last ten days was a learning experience and quite intense and we now have a better picture of the task that lays ahead for us coaches when we return to our own countries," Ngava remarked.

Tongan assistant national coach Kilifi Uele, who is still a national representative, was also impressed with the quality of the course work and felt he was ready to commit himself fully to developing himself as a coach once his playing career winds down.

"It was a good experience also to meet with other coaches from around the islands and we were able to exchange ideas and assist one another during the course," he said.

OFC honorary president, Charles Dempsey, met again with the coaches at the end to strengthen the message he had delivered at the opening by emphasising the importance of their role in the national associations and the responsibility they had to impart the knowledge gained from the course to other coaches in their countries.

COURTESY FIFA.com: Two from Dudu, including a golden goal in minute 95, saw Brazil claw their way back from a one-goal deficit to sink brave Slovakia in Dubai.

And just as it looked like the hosts were headed to extra time themselves, superstar Matar came up with the goods to send Australia packing in minute 89.

Paraguay became the first South American side eliminated at the finals, losing out 0-1 to Spain, who have not conceded a goal since their opener with Argentina. Continental neighbours Colombia had the fright of their lives against Ireland, but managed to win out 3-2 thanks to an Erwin Carrillo golden goal.

And the quarter-finals are...

UAE v. Colombia

Brazil v. Japan

Argentina v. USA

Spain v. Canada

Al Ain: Paraguay 0 - 1 Spain; Ireland 2-3 Colombia (Golden Goal) Paraguay became the first South American competitor knocked out of the finals following a 0-1 loss to powerful European champions Spain. La Furia were the better side for the full 90 minutes, but the result was still up for grabs until minute 66 when Sergio Garcia, who had slammed an earlier attempt against the post, steamed through to send the regal Iberians well on their way to the Last Eight. But Rolando Chilavert's men fought like warriors to the final whistle. After two good chances to haul themselves back from the precipice, Dante Lopez steamed in heroically on Spanish keeper Riesgo at the death. But after his shot skipped agonisingly wide, it was time for bitter tears. As the final whistle went, the brave Paraguayans sprawled on the floor in agony, while the classy Spaniards did all they could to console their vanquished, valiant foes in a familiar, soothing tongue.

Colombia - one of the day's three Conmebol competitors - kept up their reputation for inconsistency. After only eleven minutes, Victor Montano's deadly through ball picked out star striker Edixon Perea racing on goal. A fabulous finish off the post and Perea was running to the Colombian bench, to hug each and every reserve and coach Reinaldo Rueda too. Quite comfortable moving the ball around, they looked like cruising when Montano turned scorer in minute 70. But two goals in seven minutes from Cork City's Kevin Doyle (85') and Paddy McCarthy (92') sent the Irish - full of fighting spirit - into extra time. But on this occasion fortune did not favour the brave, as Erwin Carrillo finished off a fine move in minute 104 to send Colombia into the quarter-finals.

Sharjah: Brazil 2-1 Slovakia (Golden Goal); Australia 0 - 1 UAE Brazil came oh-so-close to joining neighbours Paraguay in the breadline, down 0-1 with a little over a half-hour to go. Slovakian striker Filip Sebo, back from two-matches on the bench with a bout of flu, soared above the Brazilian backs to bang a fine header past keeper Jefferson with his first touch of the match. But despite a courageous second half from Slovak keeper Peter Kostolani, Brazil - stunned into response - finally found their ancestral form. With only seven minutes to go, a wicked cross from Daniel Carvalho was woefully mismanaged by Juraj Halenar, falling perfectly to the toes of Dudu who made no mistake, firing simply past Kostolani at full stretch. With the Slovaks down a man after seeing substitute Kamil Kopunek ejected in stoppage time, Brazil were simply too much to handle. The inevitable finally happened in minute 95. It was Dudu again. With acres of space to waltz into, all the harried Slovaks could do was watch and pray. But there was to be no mercy as the ball bulged the back of the net sending the Brazilians and their throngs of supporters into wild celebrations - a poignant counterpoint to the dignified, defeated Slovaks who marched off proudly.

Ismail Matar was every bit the shining star as he led his fairytale UAE on to victory before 15,000 screaming fans in the hosts' first match outside of Abu Dhabi. With a gigantic flag draped the entire length of the main stand at the Sharjah stadium, the young captain was a constant source of frustration for the Group C-topping Aussies. Putting his head down and charging like a bull at the defence, he was an inspiration throughout the first half.

But after 89 minutes without a climax to his heroics, the foraging captain set the Round of Sixteen alight with a goal at the very death - no less than his brilliant vision and desire deserved. Collecting a ball at the corner of the box and cutting inside, his swerving shot took a deflection off Spase Dilevski and bobbled, almost apologetically, beneath lunging Aussie keeper Nathan Coe.

ASA: Australia will play host nation United Arab Emirates in Sharjah on Tuesday in their second round match at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

After defeating Brazil 3-2 in their final Group C match on Thursday, the Young Socceroos had to wait until the completion of the 1st round group stage on Friday (local time) before knowing the identity of their opponents. The United Arab Emirates finished third in Group A behind Burkina Faso and Slovakia.

The Young Socceroos played two matches against the United Arab Emirates in October in Abu Dhabi recording a 2-0 win and a 0-0 draw in what was the team's first matches since the Oceania qualifying tournament in December last year.

The second round match will be played in the Al-Sharjah stadium on Tuesday 9 December at 9pm with all remaining matches at the tournament to be decided by extra time or penalty kicks if required.

OFC/FRANKFURT: The 2006 FIFA World Cup preliminary draw for the Oceanian Zone has been confirmed in Frankfurt today with the announcement of the two groups for Stage One.

Group One (1): Tahiti, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Tonga and the Cook Group Two (2): there is Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and American Samoa.

Under the system and format proposed by the Oceania Football Confederation and approved by FIFA, the two groups will each play a round robin tournament under a league system format sometime in March/April 2004 (Dates and venues to be confirmed).

The winner and runner up from each group will advance to Stage Two where they will face seeded teams Australia and New Zealand who both received byes for Stage One because of their higher FIFA ranking. The Stage Two process will involve a round robin tournament between the top six teams on a league system at a single venue, yet to be decided. Dates in May/June 2004 have been proposed with the exact dates to be confirmed soon.

Under the approved system of combining the OFC Nations Cup with the 2006 World Cup qualifying process, the winner and runner up from Stage Two will meet later in a home and away Nations Cup final in October 2004 with the winner earning the right to represent Oceania at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Germany and 2005 AFC/OFC Challenge Cup.

The same two teams will then meet almost a year later in September 2005 in a home and away series to decide the Oceania Champion to contest the next and final stage of the 2006 World Cup preliminary qualifying process against the fifth placed team from the CONMEBOL (South America) qualifying rounds. FIFA confirmed this final playoff route in Frankfurt on 4 December 2003.

The OFC had initially proposed for the playoff route to be considered for geographic reasons based on fair-play and logic and failing that, for a random draw of the half-berths possessed by the four confederations affected. However, neither proposal was successful and the status quo of the OFC Champion taking the South American route has been retained.

PHOTO CAPTION:Participants for the first OFC Senior License Coaching Course in the OFC "Indigenous" Local Talented Coaches Scheme held at the OFC Academy in Auckland from 2-12 December 2003, pose for a group photo with (L-R seated middle: Mr Glenn Turner (FIFA Development Officer), Ms Tamara Martin (FIFA Goal/FAP Manager for South America/Oceania), Mr Charles Dempsey CBE (OFC Honorary President), Mr Alan Gillett (FA Coaching Instructor), Mr Tai Nicholas (OFC Development Manager).

The Scheme is an OFC initiative in conjunction with the Football Association of England.

COURTESY RELAY ASA: The Young Socceroos have scored a historic 3-2 win over Brazil at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates. The win guarantees Australian top spot in Group C and the Young Socceroos now progress to the knockout round of 16 where they will play a yet to be determined opponent in Sharjah on Tuesday, 9 December.

Forward Anthony Danze (from Perth Glory) scored two goals and midfielder Spase Dilevski scored one as the Young Socceroos raced to a 3-0 lead after 47 minutes. Two goals for the Brazilians in the last 15 minutes ensured a dramatic finish but Australia held on for a deserved victory.

The Young Socceroos outsmarted their opponents in the first half maintaining possession for lengthy periods and defending in numbers when without the ball. The Australians made the most of their opportunities and scored two goals in quick succession during the first half. Both were scored by Danze, the first after 31 minutes and then the second six minutes later.

Wollongong Wolves midfielder Dustin Wells had the first opportunity of the match with a long-range drive that narrowly cleared the crossbar after just 5 minutes.

The game was an open affair right from the kick-off though neither team was able to carve out too many clear-cut chances until a brief period of domination by the Brazilians midway through the half.

Firstly Daniel Carvalho saw his free kick hit from 30 yards take a slight deflection off the wall narrowly clearing the bar and clipping the roof of the net. Then Nathan Coe was twice called into action notably as Kleber forced Nathan Coe into a smart diving save as he shot from the edge of the area.

Just as the Brazilians seemed like they might have been taking the ascendency, the match turned on the half hour mark when the Young Socceroos scored with a goal created out of nothing. A long ball was not able to be headed clear by the Brazilian defenders and Wells first time shot which was going well wide deflected into the path of Anthony Danze. The Perth Glory forward latched onto the loose ball and expertly drilled a shot low and hard into the net from his position inside the right-hand side of the penalty area.

Just six minutes later the Australians doubled their advantage when Alex Brosque, who caused problems all night in his role as main striker, won the ball and started running at the retreating defenders. He held the ball up sufficiently long enough for Wells to be in position to shoot, which he did letting fly from all of 30 yards. The ball cannoned off the post and then the goalkeeper and with the ball spinning towards the goal-line Danze was on hand to ensure the goal was scored.

Brazil immediately responded and Daniel Carvalho again caused problems with his shot from distance going narrowly wide.

Just 90 seconds after the break Spase Dilevski, who had a superb game at right midfield, won the ball in his own half and played it forward to Brosque who again got away from his markers and started dribbling towards the danger area. The Marconi Stallions forward held the ball up before releasing Dilevski on his right who took the ball into the box and despite the 45-degree angle his shot had too much power for the goalkeeper.

From that moment on Brazil attempted to increase the tempo and they spent much of the remainder of the game in the Australian half.

Soon after Australian goalkeeper Coe was called on twice in the space of a minute as he firstly tipped Coelho's free-kick over the bar and then made a miraculous reflex save from Adailton's header from 6 yards.

Brazil's best chance to score came on the hour mark when a deep cross was headed back across goal where Dudu's header hit the crossbar. Adailton seemed certain to score with the follow-up but, with an open goal gaping and from just 4 yards, the Brazilian captain somehow contrived to put his header wide under pressure from Alex Wilkinson

Brazil continued to lay siege to the Australian goal but the back four of Michael Thwaite, David Tarka, Alex Wilkinson and Wayne Heath were outstanding.

Finally Brazil broke through on 75 minutes when a cross was only half cleared and Juninho picked up the ball and send a spectacular dipping volley into the net from all of 30 yards.

Brosque could have added a fourth as he found space with Brazil pushing forward but on two occasions his shots from edge of the penalty area went the wrong side of the post.

Brazil got their second through Dudu on 87 minutes when he chested the ball down and volleyed home from just inside the area but despite four minutes of injury time, it was the last of the goalmouth action.

The only sour note on the night for the Australians was a caution to Carl Valeri meaning he will be suspended for the next match of the tournament.

Australia will now play a third-placed team from either group A, B or F with the opponent to be determined following the conclusion of the round 1 matches tomorrow (Saturday Australian time). The round of 16 match will be played in Sharjah on Tuesday at 9pm (4am Wednesday AEST).

In the other Group C match played Canada defeated the Czech Republic 1-0.

It is the first time in 8 matches since 1987 that any Australian national team has defeated Brazil at a world championship - a 1-0 win for the (U-16) Joeys - and the first time ever for the Young Socceroos. The Socceroos have defeated Brazil once in 6 encounters - a 1-0 victory at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Media to source media opportunities with players or coach are requested to make contact with the Australian Under 20s media officer in the UAE via ph 0438 623 094 (global roaming) or peter.smith@australiansoccer.com.au

The Australian Soccer Association website has comprehensive details on the Young Socceroos in it's 'quick links' section, including player profiles, historical information, tournament details, etc. - www.australiansoccer.com.au

Match Details:

Australia 3 (Anthony Danze 31', 37', Spase Dilevski 47')

Brazil 2 (Juninho 75', Dudu 87')

Australian Line-up: Nathan Coe, Wayne Heath, Alex Wilkinson, David Tarka, Michael Thwaite, Spase Dilevski (Vince Lia 69'), Dustin Wells, Carl Valeri, Matt McKay, Anthony Danze (Jobe Wheelhouse 76'), Alex Brosque (Scott McDonald 81')

Subs Not Used: Tom Willis (gk); Steve Pantelidis, Mile Jedinak, Jonathan Richter, Massimo Murdocca, Michael Baird

Yellow Cards: Carl Valeri 49', Wayne Heath 87', Nathan Coe 88'

Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)

Official crowd: 10,000