It’s our fifth day and was our match two day here in Brazil. The boys have settled well and adjusted to the weather here.

We took a 20-minute drive from our camp to the venue of Parana Clube where we played our second match on our Brazil tour.

Everyone was excited to face the third place champions of Brazil League Club in Series B.

The Vodafone Fijian U23 players were all set to face the Brazilians.

It was totally a changed side from the first game which they lost 4-0 as they kept possession and played as a team and evenly matched the Brazilians in all aspects.

Few mistakes in the first quarter saw the Brazilians up by 1-0 and in the 30th minute  extended their lead. The Fijians kept their firing spirit and scored two goals in two minutes.

2015 Fiji Sportsman of the Year Iosefo Verevou scored twice in two minutes after Setareki Huges pressured the Brazilians and Verevou was on target.

Halftime: Fiji 2-2 Parana Clube

In the 57th minute Jale Dreloa was sent off for a dangerous tackle.

The Frank Farina coached side were left with 10 men and the Brazilians took advantage and scored two more goals.

Fulltime: Fiji 2-4 Parana Clube

Farina was very pleased with the performance of the boys.

“I’m very happy that the boys played gallantly but few silly mistakes proved costly for us.

“This why we are here and playing against quality opponents is the best way to learn, “said Farina.

Farina is optimistic the players are learning a lot and showed vast improvement in their match compared to the first match.

“This was a tougher match as we see these players are professionals and the way our players played showed they are learning.”

Our next match is on Wednesday.

Moce Viti.

Edited by Osea Bola

Feedback: oseab@fijisun.com.fj