Brazil carved out a 5-0 victory over New Zealand in Group D play at the FIFA Women's World Cup Wednesday in Wuhan, China.
Daniela, Cristiane, Marta and Renata Costa scored for Brazil, ranked eighth in the world, against No. 23 New Zealand, which is competing at the Women's World Cup for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1991 in China.
In the other Group D contest in Wuhan, host China got some late heroics for a 3-2 win in their tournament opener, stunning a Denmark side that thought it had salvaged an unlikely tie.
Going into the match, most critics predicted Brazil, tagged as one of the competition's favourites, would run roughshod over the Kiwis, much like reigning world champion Germany did in an 11-0 victory over Argentina in the tournament opener Monday.
The South Americans dominated possession — 66 per cent — and registered nine shots on net, compared to just one for New Zealand. Brazil's goalkeeper Andreia had little to do, as she wasn't seriously tested by the Kiwis, who focused more on stopping the constant wave of Brazilian pressure.
Daniela scored a highlight-reel goal in the 10th minute, striking a bullet of a shot from 30 yards out that rocketed into the right-hand corner of the net.
Cristiane doubled Brazil's advantage in the 54th minute, scoring on a venomous shot from just outside the penalty box after two New Zealand defenders failed to close her down.
Marta, the reigning FIFA women's player of the year, sealed the victory with her first goal of the tournament in the 73rd minute, collecting a defence-splitting pass from Cristiane before slotting a low shot past New Zealand goalkeeper Jenny Bindon.
Costa blasted a long-range effort past a diving Bindon with four minutes left in regulation and Marta bagged her second goal of the game in injury time.
Brazil is searching for its first World Cup title after finishing third in 1999 and reaching the quarter-finals in 2003.
Late heroics for ChinaChina's Xiaoli Song trapped a loose ball with her chest and drilled a shot just under the crossbar in the 88th minute for the winner, less than a minute after Denmark had tied the score to come back from a two-goal deficit.
The result was fitting, with the aggressive Chinese team enjoying more solid chances than the resilient Danes.
Chinese captain Li Jie opened the scoring in the 31st minute when her free kick cleared Denmark's wall and sailed into the top right corner of the net, leaving netminder Heidi Johansen frozen.
Denmark had a chance to draw even later in the half when Chinese keeper Han Wenxia misplayed a corner kick, but Maiken Pape's header was wide of the mark.
China went up two goals 50 minutes into the game when Bi Yan's strike from just outside the box deflected off a Denmark defender and dipped low and to the right of Johansen.
It appeared China was on its way but just one minute later the Danes got on the board when Johanna Rasmussen's corner kick was converted by Anne Dot Eggers Nielsen for a 2-1 score.
China missed out on several chances to restore the two-goal lead, which nearly proved critical when Cathrine Paaske Sorensen took a cross from Stine Dimun and headed it over the arms of Han.
The Danes' elation was short-lived, with Song's strike causing the crowd to erupt.
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