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Brazil enjoyed a
comfortable 3-0 victory over Zimbabwe on Wednesday in their penultimate
warm-up match before they attempt to win the World Cup for the sixth
time next month.

Goals from Michel
Bastos, Robinho and Elano gave Brazil coach Dunga plenty to smile about
but an injury to goalkeeper Julio Cesar marred his afternoon.

The keeper went off after 26 minutes pointing to his chest allowing Heurelho Gomes a rare international appearance.

Julio Cesar had
been called into action to deny a double chance for Zimbabwe captain
and striker Mwaruwari Benjani and Ovidy Karuru. Soon after that he
indicated his discomfort to the bench and asked to come off.

Zimbabwe, although
only ranked 117th in the world, gave the World Cup favourites a useful
test and came close to scoring in each half to give their fans
something to cheer.

Brazil took control
and went ahead after 42 minutes with a stunning 20-metre free-kick from
Michel Bastos after Luis Fabiano was fouled by Zimbabwe’s Tinashe
Nengomasha near the edge of the box.

Two minutes later
Maicon played in Robinho with a stunning sweep from the outside of his
right boot and the striker cleverly clipped the ball home, leaving
Zimbabwe keeper Edmore Sibanda well beaten again.

Those two goals
ended some determined resistance from the home side who have not
qualified for next month’s finals in neighbouring South Africa.

Best goal

The best goal of
the game came after 56 minutes when Dani Alves traded passes with Julio
Baptista and then selflessly crossed for Elano to tap in rather than
score himself.

Brazil complete
their World Cup preparations against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam next
Monday and play their first game in the tournament against North Korea
in Johannesburg on June 15. They also face Ivory Coast and Portugal in
Group G.