Australians fear Brazilian backlash

OEHRINGEN, Germany, June 15 (Reuters) Australia said today they feared they could pay the penalty for the mounting criticism over Brazil's unimpressive start to the World Cup when the teams meet in Munich on Sunday.

The South Americans laboured to a 1-0 win over Croatia in their opening Group F match on Tuesday.

Australia coach Guus Hiddink said Brazil were notoriously slow starters at World Cups but the criticism over their performance could jolt them into action.

''With Brazil, I've seen this many times,'' Hiddink told reporters today. ''It's not going well, but they take 1-0 then they grow into their shape.

Australia defender Lucas Neill said the players were also concerned that the Brazilians might have a point to prove when they tackle Australia, who opened their campaign with a remarkable 3-1 win over Japan, scoring three times in the last eight minutes after trailing 1-0.

''There's no pressure on us because everyone expects Brazil to win but there's also the fear that they probably haven't warmed up yet,'' he said.

''They are a team that can easily start to cook and we just have to make sure they we don't let it boil in the game against us.'' Midfielder Tim Cahill scored twice against the Japanese to provide Australia with their first win at a World Cup but said the players were aware the bigger matches lay ahead.

''The biggest thing for all of us is to keep our feet on the ground. It's obviously been a massive turnaround in football history with what's happened in Australia,'' he said.

''Brazil playing ugly and winning means there's a lot more to come from them. The biggest thing is we can't be complacent and get ahead of ourselves.'' Australia beat Brazil the last time they met, in the third place playoff at the 2001 Confederations Cup in Korea, but failed to score a goal against them in the five previous meetings, including the 1997 Confederations final when they were thumped 6-0.

REUTERS AY ND1850