Brazil v Australia: Nations Tournament – Live! | Soccer

Jonathan Howcroft

Hello everyone and welcome to the live game of the opening game of the 2018 Nations Tournament.

Today 's match between the champions of Australia against the South American powers of Brazil. The send-off to the Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City is 3:15 pm local time (Thursday), AKA 6:15 am Friday morning in Australia. All this means that I am at dawn and that there will be few waffles before the action starts.

As mentioned, the Matildas are the champions of the Nations Tournament after winning the inaugural competition in 2017. with victories over Japan, Brazil and the United States. For the second consecutive year, the same team foursome has dared to fight against the United States, which should guarantee a series of competitive tournaments featuring four of the world's eight first nations

. in 2018, a race that includes the war against the Copa América Femenina. They scored at least three goals in each match to secure a place in the World Cup finals in France, conceding only twice in seven games for good measure. The last defeat of Brazil was won by his opponents today, last September.

The Australia form in 2018 fell below the standards set last year. A draw and a defeat against Portugal allowed the Matildas to finish in fourth place in the Algarve Cup, and although they progressed to the final of the Asian Cup – before to lose against potential champions of Japan – the performances were uneven. It's the first time since the final defeat for Alen Stajcic shows that his team is worthy of the huge hype.