WORLD CUP/Brazil 2, Australia 0 Well, the jolly swagman came to a sad end by a billabong under the shade of a coolibah tree, and things weren't much better for his descendents yesterday. Australia were done in by two Brazilians called Adriano and Fred. Football is sometimes poetry. Often it's just prose. But you don't always get the ending you want.

For Australian soccer the great day in the sun didn't have the ending that perhaps it deserved, but this was a performance of maturity and sophistication and it brought better auguries for the future than perhaps a draw hacked out through frenzy might have. There's still a chance for Matilda to waltz in the second round. The billy isn't boiled yet.

And Brazil? Their wins in Germany extend their record of finals wins to nine on the trot, but they looked a lot more ordinary yesterday then their tickertape stats suggest.

They have beaten Croatia and now Australia like a team playing from memory. Maybe the stuff about rhythm is a tired old cliché but Brazil are stuttery these days like men trying to relearn a language they once made magic with.

If Brazil were a movie you'd say they were unbalanced by too many stars. Roberto Carlos should have ridden into the sunset a while back. Ronaldinho is frustratingly peripheral. Ronaldo got an assist last night but not a lot else. Adriano picked up a little on his performance. It was only when Fred and Robinho strolled into the final frames that the plot began to convince.

"It is hard to compare." said Carlos Parreira afterwards, detecting the thrust of thinking. "Robinho is a player we like. We are learning now how to use him. Not how people think but in the way we think is good for the team. When he and Fred came to the team they imposed their own style and rhythm."

As for Ronaldo, there was a magical moment at the post-match press conference when the subject of his girth was broached from the floor in halting English.

"As for Ronaldo. There has been a lot of talk about his figure. Is he too thick?"

"Ask the doctor," said Parreira.

The Brazilian coach had stuck with the same 11 who had opened the tournament against Croatia. Guus Hiddink, though, as is his wont, sprang a little surprise. With many Australian observers predicting a start for Josip Skoko of Stoke City in midfield, Hiddink opted instead to leave out Harry Kewell (for Tim Cahill) and include Mile Sterjovski at midfield instead of the silky Marco Bresciano.

This was particularly odd in view of the last time Sterjovski was sprung, which was for a somewhat disastrous cameo on the farewell friendly with Greece at the Melbourne Cricket Ground just prior to Australia's departure for Germany. Sterjovski's performance was seen as Hiddink's first mistake as Aussie manager, and many Aussie fans refer to the business as "The Sterjovski Incident".

The switch was surprising but that it worked should have shocked nobody. Hiddink is the master of these occasions and his 4-5-1 set-up proved hard to unlock .

The Aussies began a little more cautiously than perhaps was wise. Hiddink had cut back to just one striker, having finished the other day with five. Viduka worked hard but never really got on the end of anything and we had to wait 20 minutes for the first real chance, Ronaldinho skipping through a thicket of defenders before Lucas Neill stuck a toe in.

Neill and Newcastle's Craig Moore performed plenty of such emergency operations as the game progressed.

A few minutes later Ronaldo produced an unexpected burst of energy but Moore launched himself in the way of the final shot.

Sterjovski got involved in another incident which might yet bear his name just after the half-hour when Cahill fed him on the left but hearing a whistle from the crowd he let the play fizzle out. And that was about it till half time, the growing Aussie confidence best advertised when Brett Emerton ghosted down the right past a couple of Brazilians with childish impertinence and joy.

By now Bresciano was on for Tony Popovic and his invention promised much.

Just after half-time the levee broke though. Brazil scored in the required fashion, Ronaldo dawdling on the edge of the area and then languidly laying off a square pass to Adriano, who put it through a defender's legs and into the corner of the net.

Hiddink regrouped. Kewell joined the action and his first touch was to lamp a good chance over the bar after Dida had dropped it into his path. Poor Guus. Some days your sub makes you look like a genius. Other days your sub is Harry Kewell.

Brazil, even with the tonic of a goal, just don't seem to be gelling, though. They work hard but it shows. Kaka was sublime again and Cafu did well but genius should never look like labour.

Robinho, a little parcel of energy, changed things when he arrived, as did Fred. Still we were into the last 10 minutes before Brazil really threatened again.

As it happens, it's Parreira's change which produces the jackpot. Adriano gives way for Fred, who is barely on the field when Robinho's shot comes back off the post and into his path.

"The negative side," said Hiddink, "is we are not having the last, lethal, killing pass. In the first half there were some possibilities but not enough. In the second half we were more determined. We are proud now but our hands are empty."

SUBSTITUTES

BRAZIL: Gilberto for Emerson, Robinho for Ronaldo (both 72 mins), Fred for Adriano (88 mins)Subs Not Used: Cicinho, Cris, Julio Cesar, Juninho, Luisao, Mineiro, Ricardinho, Rogerio, Silva. Booked: Cafu, Ronaldo, Robinho.

AUSTRALIA: Aloisi for Moore (69 mins), Bresciano for Popovic (40 mins), Kewell for Cahill (56 mins). Subs not used: Beauchamp, Covic, Kalac, Kennedy, Lazaridis, Milligan, Skoko, Thompson, Wilkshire. Booked: Emerton, Culina

Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)