First half brace keeps Brazil in the race

Brazil were quickly into their stride and Mexican goalie Jorge Campos had to make a flying save from Emerson after a seven-man move. From the resulting corner defender Antonio Carlos saw his header headed of Ban. Twice he had the Brazilian defence on the backfoot with some superb dribblingskills.

But after 14 minutes, Campos came to the rescue again for the underdogs with another good save from Ze Roberto. And just a minute later Rivaldo produced the best stop yet.

Then Ronaldo screwed a shot wide after being set up by Antonio Carlos and Amoroso. The striker was winning his 50th cap for his country — and at 22 he is the youngest Brazilian player ever to reach that milestone.

But then Mexico launched a raid and a superb run and shot from Blanco forced a save from Brazil ‘keeper Dida.

But Brazil were stretching Mexico and it was no surprise when the defending champions went ahead after 25 minutes.

Emerson found Ze Roberto whose cross was headed out to Rivaldo whose header came back off the bar. But Amoroso reacted instantly to put the rebound into the net.

It meant that the man who recently left Udinese to join Serie A rivals Parma joined his strike partner Ronaldo as top scorer in the Copa with four goals each.

Then superb play by Brazil skipper Cafu set up Ronaldo whose shotwrong-footed Campos but was deflected wide by the trailing leg of a Mexican defender.

Then defender Rafael Marquez had Mexico’s best chance yet but headed wide at the near-post from a Blanco corner with not a defender in sight.

Three minutes before the interval Brazil took 2-0 lead. Ronaldo held the ball up but was wrestled to the ground but — rather than wait for the free-kick — Rivaldo raced in to crash the loose ball past Campos from the edge of the box.

After the break Brazil dominated possession.

Change of venue: Organisers announced a new venue for the competition’s third-place play-off, this time switching the game from one Asuncion stadium to another.

It was the second day in a row that a venue change had been announced for the fixture.

On Tuesday, the South American Football Confederation (CSF) said the game had been moved from the border town of Pedro Juan Caballero, where local organisers feared a poor turnout, to the Cerro Porteno Stadium in the capital.

On Wednesday, theCSF said the game would be in the larger defenders of the Chaco Stadium.

Last Saturday’s quarter-final between Mexico and Peru was moved from Pedro Juan Caballero to Asuncion at 48 hours’ notice and hardly a day has gone by without rumours of more alterations.