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Ronaldinho magic as Brazil trounce HK World player of the year Ronaldinho gave a dazzling performance as Brazil thrashed Hong Kong 7-1 in a one-sided friendly.
The Barcelona star got on the scoresheet with a cheeky lob and produced some magical touches in a virtuoso performance for the world champions that delighted Hong Kong fans celebrating the Lunar New Year holiday.
Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was left purring with delight after Ronaldinho's sublime dislay.
"He's a wonderful player," said Parreira. "He can make special passes, special movements and special goals -- everything he does is differnet, that's why he was voted the best player in the world and he showed it today."
Bayern Munich defender Lucio opened the scoring in the 21st minute, latching on to a Robinho cross to plant a downward header past Hong Kong goalkeeper Fan Chun-Yip.
Real Madrid star Roberto Carlos, who had earlier cleared the crossbar with an audacious effort from the half-way line, made it 2-0 with a fierce left-footed shot before Ricardo Oliveira's curler on the stroke of half-time.
Ronaldinho made it 4-0 just after the break, and then launched the move which ended up with the fifth, outrageously looking to the left flank while spraying a pass to the right. Oliveira applied the finish.
Santos striker Robinho scored with a close-range header and a left-footed penalty by second-half substitute Alex rounded off Brazil's scoring with 10 minutes to go.
The biggest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for Hong Kong's Lee Sze-Ming, who nodded home a consolation strike for the home side after a late goalmouth scramble.
Brazil, using the match as preparation for next month's World Cup qualifiers with Uruguay and Peru, were missing star striker Ronaldo who was not released by his club Real Madrid.
However they fielded a near full-strength side including Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos and rising star Robinho, who mesmerised the crowd -- and the home team -- with their pace, power and close control.
"We knew the technical difference is too big between Brazil, who are five-times world champions, and the Hong Kong team but we knew quality is not enough if you don't commit yourself, if you don't play with heart and spirit, but we did today," said Parreira.
It could have been worse for Hong Kong if not for the heroics of goalkeeper Fan, who saved at the feet of Ronaldinho and Oliveira as well as stopping a point-blank effort from the head of the Real Betis striker.
Chances were few for the home team, ranked 144th by FIFA, although Wong Chun-Yue had a shot blocked by Brazil 'keeper Julio Cesar in the opening minutes and Luk Koon-Pong fired over late on.
"After this game we know there's definitely some difference in the level between Hong Kong and Brazil," said Hong Kong coach Lai Sun-Cheung. "Hong Kong played this game under a lot of pressure but we learned a lot from their skills."
The match, which was criticised by FIFA president Sepp Blatter as a "money-making" exercise, was also dogged by lacklustre ticket sales with the 40,000-seat Hong Kong stadium only about two-thirds full.
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