RIYADH, 7 February - A superb free kick from Djalminha late in the second half gave a young Brazilian team a 1-0 win over Saudia Arabia in a friendly yesterday.
Brazil fielded the team that trounced Bolivia 6-0 last week, consisting entirely of domestically-based players, but showed little of the form expected of a pedigree footballing nation.
"All the chances we took against Bolivia, we missed here. We have to work on finishing off our moves," said Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
The four-time World Cup winners, who survived a 77th minute penalty, displayed little creativity and spent much of the first half trying to force crosses into the Saudi penalty area.
Brazil captain Juninho was again guilty of slack play, while young midfielders Gilberto Silva and Kleberson could not reproduce the form they showed against Bolivia.
Saudi goalkeeper Al-Dayea snuffed out the few threats posed by Brazil in the first half.
Significantly, it was a more experienced Brazilian player who broke the deadlock.
Deportivo's Djalminha replaced Kleberson and took a firmer grip on the midfield before cleverly floating a free kick into the net on 72 minutes.
Brazil tried to break open the Saudi defense again, but Al-Dayea produced some fine saves.
Saudi Arabia posed little threat until a clumsy leap by Brazil goalkeeper Dida floored Al Meshal in the area on 77 minutes, but Al-Sharani fired the ball high over the bar.
The game was part of both teams' buildup to the 2002 World Cup finals in Korea and Japan.
Brazil have been drawn in group C with Turkey, China and Cost Rica, while Saudi Arabia face Germany, Ireland and Cameroon in Group E.
