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AUSTRALIA – BRAZIL FOOTBALL CONNECTIONSNational teamsThe next match played against Brazil by any Australian national team will mark the 50 th meeting between the twocountries. Since first playing against each other at the FIFA Under-16 World Cup in 1987, Australia has confrontedBrazil at men’s senior, under-20 and under-16/17, women’s senior and under-19/20, Futsal and Paralympic levels.Australia’s highest-profile victory against the Brazil senior team was a 1-0 win in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cupthird-place playoff, while two 0-6 drubbings for the Socceroos at the hands of Brazil (1997 Confederations Cup final,2013 international friendly) were noteworthy for the opposite reason.Other memorable Australia-Brazil clashes include:• a scoreless draw in the group stage of the 1997 Confederations Cup to deny Brazil a new all-time world record 15international wins in a row;• a 0-2 defeat for the Socceroos in the 2006 World Cup in Germany;• a final group round 3-2 win by Australia to secure first place in Group C at the 2003 FIFA Under-20 World Cup,with Ange Postecoglou coaching the Young Socceroos at the time;• draw and a loss on penalties by the Joeys against Brazil in the 1999 FIFA Under-17 World Cup final in New Zealand;• one-goal losses by Australia in all confrontations for the senior women’s side against Brazil at the Olympic Games(2000 and 2004) and World Cup (2011).Brazilian players in AustraliaStar players in the NSW state league in the early 1970s included Brazilian imports Hilton Silva, Agenor Muniz and LuisDe Melo. All three played a role in Hakoah-Sydney City’s Championship success in the first National Soccer League(NSL) season 1977. Over the remainder of the NSL years only a handful of Brazilians played in the league, includingNelio Borges (Sydney City, Sydney Croatia and Canterbury Marrickville), Ayrton Andrioli (West Adelaide), AlexMoreira (Carlton, Northern Spirit, Adelaide City and Newcastle United), Edgar Aldrighi (Perth Glory) and FernandoRech (Brisbane Strikers and Parramatta Power). In total, 15 Brazilian players competed in the NSL from 1977 to 2004.It has been a different story in the A-League however, with almost 40 Brazilians playing a part in the nationalcompetition in its first nine years. In terms of most appearances, the most prominent Brazilians in the A-League havebeen Cassio (Adelaide, 124 A-League appearances), Daniel Cortes (Wellington Phoenix, 106), Henrique (BrisbaneRoar, 96) Reinaldo (Brisbane Roar, 92), and Fred (Melbourne Victory, Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Heart 61).The highest-profile guest appearance from Brazil in the A-League was Romario (Adelaide United 2006/07 season), aWorld Cup winner and former FIFA World Player of the Year.Santos tours 1972–1973Brazilian club side Santos made two visits to Australia in the early 1970s, playing an Australian XI in 1972 in Sydney(2-2), and the Victoria state side in Melbourne in early 1973 (Santos 2-0). On both tours Santos was led by Pele,regarded by many as the world’s greatest player ever.FIFA Club World CupAustralian Champions of 1999, South Melbourne, travelled to Rio De Janeiro in 2000 to take part in the first FIFA ClubWorld Cup. Coached by Ange Postecoglou, Souths put in a respectable performance, albeit without a win againstVasco Gama (Brazil), Nexaca (Mexico) or Manchester United (England).VISITS TO BRAZIL BY AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAMSNational team Date Tour information Australia’s resultMen’s senior team September 2013 Friendly L 0-6 v BrazilWomen’s senior team April 1995 Havelange Tournament W 7-0 v ArgentinaW 6-0 v Paulo VistaL 0-3 v BrazilW 3-2 v BrazilBeach Football May 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup L 1-5 v FranceL 1-3 v ArgentinaParalympic Nov 2007 CPISRA World Championships W 4-0 v South AfricaL 0-3 v England/WalesL 0-5 v BrazilW 8-1 v JapanL 1-2 v United StatesW 5-0 v CanadaOFFICIAL MEDIA GUIDE OF AUSTRALIA AT THE 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL 112