Budweiser Man of the Match: ZE ROBERTO (BRA)

18 June 2006

In a team of star attackers, it was the defensive midfielder Ze Roberto who garnered the Budweiser Man of the Match honours for his hard-working performance in Brazil's 2-0 victory over Australia.

On the same field where he celebrated a Bundesliga championship victory just four weeks ago in what was probably his last game with Bayern Munich, Ze Roberto was the man who did the selfless ball-winning work for his more celebrated team-mates.

His biggest single contribution arguably came just minutes after his side had taken the lead early in the second half when he made a terrific defensive recovery, running half the length of the field to stop a clear breakaway for Australia's Marco Bresciano.

“Brazil have many solo artists, the star players whom everybody knows,” said FIFA Technical Study Group member Francisco Maturana, “but such a team needs a worker like Ze Roberto, who hustled for almost 90 minutes to help the stars. Players like him have to be honoured. They are really important for any team, even one like Brazil.”