CANBERRA, June 19 -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Monday applauded Australian football players' performance in the match against powerful Brazil in World Cup.

Australia lost to Brazil 2-0 in Munich on Sunday and has good chance to enter to the next round of the World Cup.

Howard told reporters here that he watched the game, which started at 2:00am in eastern time in Australia. "I, like millions of other Australians, watched the game."

"I want to say an extraordinary performance the Socceroos (Australian players) put up," he said.

The prime minister said Australians successfully held world champions Brazil to a scoreless in the first half, describing it as "a tremendous performance."

He also wished the Australian team well in their next match against Croatia on Thursday, during which Australians need only a draw to advance to the next round.