Brazil Camp Focus – The Selecao need to take heart from Argentina and Uruguay
Brazil head to their final match of the Copa America group stage against Ecuador today hoping that their luxuriously talented squad can come up with a performance par their revered tag. The five time world champions has always been slow starters in big competitions and draws from their first two games is not a bad result, provided it instigates an improvement in every level of the game in future. Another draw today at Cordoba will take them to the knockouts; they can take heart from the way fellow title favorites Argentina and Uruguay came back after being in a similar situation.
A wasteful first half and a languid second combined to provide an undesirable start for the Selecao against minnows Venezuela last Sunday. The second match in which substitute Fred saved the team from disaster added question marks over their defense which was believed to be impeccable with the attack continued to miss fluidity despite getting two goals. Both the goals scored by Paraguay were results of the lack of understanding between Brazil’s defensive blocks.
There was no maturity on show by Brazil, and they lacked motivation throughout. Robinho looked tired in the first match and was benched for the second; Ramires was mostly ineffective while Dani Alves was found out of position with no one to cover him. Paulo Henrique "Ganso" was not getting enough support to spray his passes in the middle; Neymar, who is under the watchful eyes of several European giants, was the silver lining in the first match while he was merely a shadow in the next. Alexandre Pato was unable to provide the clinical finishing expected of a Brazilian target man.
Still, this young squad boasting some of the promising phenomena of world football is capable of turning the game in a flash of brilliance. But Dani Alves, Mano Menezes’ preferred right back over Maicon, recently tried to play down the talk of individual brilliance by stating that team spirit is more important. He said: “Individual talents only show up when the group is flowing. We can't overcharge these talents with responsibility. We have young players and a new squad. We must have patience.”Alves can definitely point to his club’s success for a specimen.
Defender Lucio, the only World Cup winner in the squad, asked for more commitment from the players. "We know that shirt and name do not win games, but with commitment, because the opponents are not fools. Venezuela and Paraguay had good matches, and marked our strikers. Brazil has to show every game why it is the most famous team in the world," said the Inter Milan star who has been wearing the captain’s arm band for the last five years.
The team has lost a squad player in Tottenham midfielder Sandro who had ruptured the meniscus in his left knee. He is expected to miss the start of the Premier League season as well. Menezes is yet to disclose his final eleven with Robinho likely to come back to the team. "Ganso" needs to dominate the possession more rather than showing his brilliance in flashes like the quality assist for that late equalizer against Paraguay. The Santos midfielder who is coming back from a long injury layoff said at a press conference: "I am sure that on Wednesday we will improve our football to claim a great victory."
Ecuador – without Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia – are not supposed to pose a serious threat to the Brazilians. Reinaldo Rueda’s side escaped with a point against Paraguay while they lost the next clash against Venezuela after a disappointing performance. If the Brazilians can recreate the missing fluidity in attack, then prospects are there for some goals with the pattern of boring stalemates in the tournament broken already.
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