| |
World Cup 2010 profile - Brazil - Expectant nation sceptical over new style
In World Cup years, football fever takes over this large South American country as many of the 200 million inhabitants are allowed time off work to watch their footballing heroes show the world the flair and skill Brazilian football is loved for. Brazilians often love to quote the famous saying: “the English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it,” referring to the stylish way of playing the Brazilians have adopted as their own. Of their vast population, an estimated 10 000 play the game professionally worldwide. The Brazilian Football Confederation was founded in 1914 and although funding is not currently in abundance for the grass-roots, the hosting of the World Cup in 2014 could see the injection of cash required as the Brazilians look to the future.
One of the reasons Brazilian football is so unique is because of its league system. Unlike other nations, it has two different championships - national and state - in that teams play at different times of the year. As Brazil is geographically such a large country, state competitions allow people to watch their team without having to travel such inordinate distances. Brazilian teams have faired relatively well when playing teams from round the world, with São Paulo and Internacional both winning the World Club Championships in 2005 and 2006 respectively, beating such European heavyweights as Liverpool and Barcelona in their respective finals. Despite recent one-off wins, it is still up for debate how Brazilian sides would fare in the European leagues, which are considered far stronger than those on the South American continent. Indeed, the current Samba squad has no players in it who ply their trade in Brazil, although recent call-ups have included some, such as Diego Souza from Palmeiras. Brazil, as a footballing nation, is regarded more as a feeding place for European clubs - especially Portugal and Spain - and often lose their brightest talents at a young age to their European counterparts. Plenty succeed and go on to great things, but many return having found they just cannot adapt across the Atlantic, leaving the Brazilian league to be made up of bright young talents, failed and now returned exports as well as stars who want one final swansong - few who are really at the peak of their powers.
Brazil, ranked top of the most recent FIFA World Rankings, enter the tournament as second favourites, behind only Spain. Although the current squad does not seem to possess as much flair as the ‘Golden Age’ team, they still carry a large threat. Any side, current and future, will always be compared to that ‘Golden Age’ team, consisting of Pele, Garrincha et al that won three World Cups between 1958 and 1970. Their South American qualifying campaign was far from comfortable, winning by just one point, however, positives from that campaign include losing only two out of 18 games and conceding just 11 goals. An average goal-scoring rate of just under two-per-game is perhaps not what would have been expected, but they did the job that was necessary - hardly surprising with the fact that Brazil have never failed to qualify for the group stages of a World Cup since its induction in 1930. Because of their success historically in the tournament - winning it five times (more than any other country) - the nation will be expecting the team to be defending champions when the trophy arrives in Brazil in 2014.
All of this pressure means that their superstars will have to perform. With usual suspects Kaka and Robinho having odd seasons for new clubs, a new weapon, Alexandre Pato, could come to the fore. Although the young Milan striker has only scored once for Brazil, his improvement this season suggests he will be a force to be reckoned with - he has shown potential through his movement, impeccable touch and calmness in front of goal. Defensively they look strong with Julio Cesar in goal, Maicon and Lucio all providing world-class stability at the back - a trait their Coach, Dunga, has instilled.
 This will be Dunga’s first World Cup as Coach - he has previous World Cup experience as a player however, after helping lead Brazil to victory in the 1994 event. He has proven himself in the last four years since his arrival with Brazil, lifting the Copa América in 2007, but his style of play drastically contrasts the quintessential ways of Brazilian football. As a defensive midfielder in his playing days, he is defensively minded and places a large emphasis on the nuances of defence before attack, rather than the other - more recognisably - Brazilian way of playing. Brazil is a notoriously humid country and the players should therefore have no worries about the temperatures in South Africa, which is normally just below 30 degrees Celsius in the day, but dropping quickly for evening matches. So, for the Brazilians, there appears to be no extenuating problems that might affect their performance in June. As long as the squad performs, they have the arsenal to launch a genuine assault on the FIFA World Cup .
See the full list of OLBG's free Football Tips here.
Related Articles
| |