Live Ticker: Brazil 3 : 0 Ghana

Brazil vs Ghana
Brazil have been known to be troubled by African teams in the past, but do Ghana have enough to pester the reigning World Champions and 2006 World Cup favorites into losing the match? DW-WORLD.DE has all the action!

The starting line-ups in Dortmund
The two coaches, Brazil's Carlos Alberto Parreira and Ghana's Ratomir Dujkovic have released their starting line-ups for what should be an exciting round of 16 match.

Brazil (4-4-2):

1-Dida; 2-Cafu, 3-Lucio, 4-Juan, 6-Roberto Carlos; 5-Emerson, 11-Ze Roberto, 8-Kaka, 10-Ronaldinho; 9 Ronaldo, 7-Adriano

Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira

Ghana (4-4-2):

22-Richard Kingston; 15-John Paintsil, 6-Emmanuel Pappoe, 5-John Mensah, 7-Shilla Illiasu; 18-Eric Addo, 10-Stephen Appiah, 23-Haminu Dramani, 11-Sulley Muntari; 14-Matthew Amoah, 3-Asamoah Gyan

Coach: Ratomir Dujkovic

Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)

Parreira has decided to go with the Old Guard, putting Adriano on for the injured Robinho. Also returning to the bench are "youngsters" Juninho, Gilberto Silva and Cicinho, and captain Cafu will make his 19th World Cup appearance, a Brazilian record. Some are saying thoughts of too many records in Brazilian players' minds could harm the team cause.

The Black Stars regain the services of Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari who shot down the Czechs in the group phase but were suspended for the final match against the USA. More importantly, coach Dujkovic loses his top player, Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who saw his second yellow card in that game against the Americans.

The teams arrive in the stadium. Ghana are in all white. Brazil in their recognizable yellow jerseys with blue shirts.

The national anthems have been sung. Almost 64,000 fans are ready for this game to be started. Lubos Michel from Slovakia will be blowing the whistle.

0. min.
Brazil are playing from right to left on your computer monitors. The round of 16 match between Ghana and Brazil is under way.

3. min.
Brazil have had possession of the ball the first three minutes of the match.

4. min.
Dramani with the first good move by the Ghanaians but his ball from the right wing flies over the goal line -- Brazil goal kick.

5. min.
Ronaldo with a super goal
Ghana's offside trap fails miserably. Ronaldo gets behind the African defense just beyond midfield, Kaka feeds him the pass and the 90-kilo striker jaunts to the goal, dekes keeper Kingston and pushes the ball into the empty net. A shocking start for Ghana.

6. min.
Stephen Appiah is booked


9. min.
That certainly was not the start Ghana coach Dujkovic had envisioned. Ronaldo has now broken Gerd Müller's World Cup goal scoring record, notching his 15th, giving the defending champs an early lead.

10. min.
Muntari with a hard foul on Lucio. Booked


13. min.
Adriano now alone
Adriano now breaks free. He tries to circumvent the sliding Kingston, is slightly touched in the box, but ref Michel gives the falling Inter striker yellow instead of pointing to the penalty spot.

15. min.
Cafu controls a long ball beautifully on the right side, dashes into the box before a tackle stops the charge. The Brazilian seniors have come with their game boots to prove they aren't washed up.

18. min.
Dramani challenges Dida with a shot from 35 meters. The Milan keeper deflects the ball over the crossbar -- corner kick. Asamoah Gyan, center stage at the edge of the penalty, receives a good pass after the corner kick -- but he's just offsides.

22. min.
Ghana have re-gathered themselves after the early Brazilian strike. They are trying to advance but on occasion opening their back line up, making themselves susceptible for a second Brazilian goal.

24. min.
Amoah with an excellent chance!
Oh my! The Dortmund striker Matthew Amoah receives a pass on the penalty box but when he turns to shoot, he connects poorly, and the ball and goes wide of the net.

25. min.
Roberto Carlos overlaps on the right side and receives a long ball from midfield. The ball bounces once, he fires -- a souvenir for some lucky fan. Awful attempt.

28. min.
Is Brazilian brilliance mutating into Selecao arrogance? Ghana are fully back in this match and have penetrated into the Brazilian penalty area with relative ease on numerous occasions of late.

28. min.
John Paintsil booked for a hard foul


29. min.
Confusion in front of the Ghana goal. A Ronaldinho corner kick to the far post is headed back into the middle by Lucio. Kingston, not known for his solid abilities, is on the ground trying to grab the ball before it is struck away by the defense. In the ensuing counter, Dramani is selfish and fires over the net. Too bad, a good chance wasted for Ghana.

35. min.
So, Brazil have been resting on their laurels since the Ronaldo goal. Gyan gets the ball at the goal box just ahead of Emerson, but the ball is bouncing too much and he shoots it over the crossbar. The Brazilian mastery is definitely gone.

37. min.
Eric Addo sees yellow for a hard tackle on Adriano. Ghana's fourth


38. min.
Free-kick for Brazil
Ronaldinho has the honors but he curls the ball high over the goal.

40. min.
A break in the action after Ronaldinho inadvertently kicked Eric Addo's calf.

42. min.
Another Ghana corner -- almost the equalizer
Mensah is there first, a powerful header that flies at the feet of a jumping Dida -- Brazil just avoid the equalizer. Mensah is angry at himself for not having placed that one just a few inches more to the left.

43. min.
Yellow for Juan after a vicious tackle against Addo


45. min.
Counter attack -- Adriano doubles the Brazilian lead
After another Ghana challenge in the Brazilian box, the yellow jerseys break free. Kaka, Cafu, who then sends a beautiful ball into the Ghana box -- Adriano looks very much offside -- and the Inter striker uses his thigh to slot the ball from close range. Dubious, that goal was.

45. min.
Half-time
+3 Ronaldo at the beginning. Adriano at the end. In between a very uninspiring performance by the Selecao. Brazil head to the locker room up 2-0.

46. min.
The second-half is under way
Gilberto Silva comes in for Emerson

47. min.
Ghana start where they left off with a large portion of ball possession in the early minutes of the second-half.

48. min.
Asamoah Gyan boots the ball into the stands after a whistle and is booked
Ghana must be careful or they will most definitely end this match with fewer than 11 men.

50. min.
An incursion here, another one there for Brazil into the Ghana half. The 2-0 lead looks good but Ghana continue to play hard.

53. min.
Dramani on the right gets a feed from Gyan, who's standing in the center. Dramani shoots but it's harmless.

55. min.
The non-Brazilian fans in Dortmund are singing their support for the Africans, singing "Stand up if you are Ghana".

57. min.
Brazil showing some more elan -- a great combination ends up on the foot of Roberto Carlos. Kingston stops the shot from the Madrid defender that most certainly would have meant the end of the match.

58. min.
Some substitutions in the offing to try and change the flow of the match, or to retain it, depending on whose side you are on.

59. min.
Eric Addo comes off for Derek Boateng


60. min.
Goal scorer Adriano leaves. Juninho comes on in a slightly more defensive variation.


63. min.
Ronaldinho gains possession at midfield, charges into the Ghana half, dishes off to Kaka who then slides it over to Ronaldo. He shoots but it's blocked.

67. min.
The pace has slowed down in the past 10 minutes. Brazil wants to lower the tempo, to take the winds of motivation out of Ghana's sails. It's working too. Brazil is keeping the ball longer, making Ghana run more.

69. min.
Ghana with a good shot
Dida with a marvelous save on a Asamoah Gyan shot. The ball squirms free but he can just get to before Amoah, who will leave the match now.

69. min.
Alex Tachie-Mensah takes Matthew Amoah's spot in the Ghana team


72. min.
The crowd is vocalizing its displeasure with Brazil. The defending champs are slowly moving the ball horizontally back and forth but doing little to go toward the Ghana goal.

75. min.
The Black Stars are showing more and more signs of fatigue. Their passes are not so crisp, the shots finding their target less and less. Their legs are getting heavy.

77. min.
But Ghana again show a flash of brilliance with some fast, one-touch passes. The ball enters the box, Dida comes off his line and beats Muntari to it.

79. min.
An inconspicuous Ronaldinho has the ball stripped from him at midfield. Two passes and Muntari fires on goal. It's an easy one for Dida.

81. min.
Asamoah Gyan takes a dive
Ghana were getting their second wind. Again a nice combination. Gyan tries to win a penalty but ref Michel has none of it, shows yellow to the striker. That just may be the end of Ghana's first World Cup.

83. min.
Kaka can go to the showers. Ricardinho in.


84. min.
Goal for Ze Roberto
Ghana's defense is again outwitted by Brazil. Ze Roberto beats the offside trap, taps the ball by a charging Kingston and only has to redirect the ball into the goal. Brazil will be going through.

86. min.
Less than five minutes to play. Brazil clearly ahead but the 65,000 fans again are letting the Selecao know that this victory was not a Samba affair, but rather a somewhat fortunate one.

88. min.
Ronaldo just misses number 2
Ronaldo can again get behind a Ghana defense that is doing what it can to help the strikers get a consolation goal. He shoots but Kingston just gets a hand on it to stop the ball from flying into the net.

90. min.
Cafu with the next chance. He should have dished it off to an open Ronaldinho.

90. min.
+3 Kingston saves another 100% chance. This one off the foot of Juan.

90. min.
Brazil win clearly on the surface but it was unspectacular.
Brazil's Old Guard come through. Ronaldo dug an early hole for Ghana. The Black Stars fought hard to get the equalizer, more than even with the reigning champs, but Adriano's strike just before half-time made things clear. Brazil face the winner of the Spain-France match.