Some weeks ago, I have written a post criticizing Brazil’s national soccer squad. At that time, the Seleção had not proved to be reliable. We already had good players, but they were seemingly unprepared. Today, their reputation has taken a turn for the better. There has been quite an euphoric response to its magnificent 3-0 win against Spain. For a few moments, it was as if all of Brazil’s predicaments were forgotten: footballers and spectators were united in one, ready to face the current world champions. Following the match, Big Phil praised the support his team has acquired throughout the entire Confederations Cup. He also said that now they are already thinking about 2014. Is it too early to assume that Brazilians are favourite on the next competition?
The so-called magical Spanish team – usually calm and controlled – could do nothing to stop the massacre. Its strategy of holding ball possession has been shifted to the other side. The ability to develop strategical plays worked only for Felipão. One should not be induced to think that Spain had no opportunities to score (after all, FIFA says they still are the best). When a penalty favourable to them appeared out of thin air, Sergio Ramos shot and missed. When Pedro was face-to-face with Julio Cesar, the Golden Glove recipient made an incredible move to stop the ball. If there is one thing that this match teaches us is: even a supposedly unbeatable team may face a formidable opponent. This same logic can be used to stress that Brazil can (and probably will) find a challenging adversary someday.
Indeed, there are plenty of others who are willing to take the trophy home next year. Many of them are qualified enough, so it is hard to pinpoint an exact squad that would have “preference” over everyone else. Unfortunately for some, Tahiti will not be competing in 2014. Fernando Torres, for instance, will obviously be disappointed. Jokes aside, there is still a long path to be explored by Scolari and his players. The coach’s speech has been cautious, though his celebration of the newest title is certainly not. It seems as if they are trying to keep their feet on the ground, so as to not be surprised in the future. Big Phil has performed the miracle of building a team strategy from scratch in just some weeks! This is amazing, but most of the work is yet to be done.
In my opinion, Brazil needs to improve its response to different types of adversaries. The match against Uruguay made it clear: astonishingly, it was easier to achieve victory over Spain. The World Cup, however, is a tournament in which all games are decisive. There is absolutely no room for error. It is nice to see the members of the technical committee keeping their line-up consistent, but it is necessary to make sure that these choices of players are the best they are able to do. We will face a myriad of other teams, all of them willing to eliminate Seleção in its home soil.
To put it briefly, we are not ready for the World Cup. Many will likely say that I am some sort of madman, that I cannot see the reality. I confess that we are on the right track to conquer this long-awaited trophy (for the sixth time). Nevertheless, it is important to remind what happened in 2010: Brazil went to South Africa after achieving a Confederations Cup title. The result was devastating: Dunga and his players lost to Netherlands on the quarter-finals. So, there is no reason to think that our team has just taken Spain’s post of “the best”. Humility is pivotal to securing our potential victories in 2014.
Originally published on thimabi.wordpress.com.