Filed under: FIFA World Cup, Brazil, Chile, Netherlands
JOHANNESBURG — We’re going to have to get used to this Brazilian national team, because it very well may win the World Cup on July 11. If it does so, it won’t be in a style that echoes its famous predecessors. Far from it. At times Dunga’s Brazil is downright difficult to watch.
But they are also very, very hard to beat, as it demonstrated in Monday’s 3-0 win over Chile in a round-of-16 match at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park. That really is the bottom line for the no-nonsense coach who captained the 1994 Cup-winning squad. It starts with an air-tight defense marshaled by the incomparable Lucio, a solid and athletic midfield, and the confidence that at some point over a given 90 minutes, or likely several points, somebody will make a play.
Dunga, nevertheless, defended his team’s place in Brazilian soccer history prior to the game, telling reporters that, “When they show highlights from 1970, all you see are the good parts. Nobody repeats 1966 because Brazil didn’t do well. From 1958 they just show the good parts and from 1962 they also just show the good parts. If we take the current Brazilian team and just show the best bits, fans will think it’s a spectacular team. But today they show as many negative moments as good ones.”
In Monday’s match there were more negative moments then good ones, but the good ones were very good, and Brazil worked its formula to perfection. It strangled the Chilean attack and benefited from impressive pieces of individual skill on the counter. This Brazil squad does not score goals through intricate and elegant buildups. Instead, it pounces with ruthless efficiency.
A miserable opening half hour, it looked like Chile might have a chance. Brazil played as if they’d just woken from a collective nap. There was next to no movement off the ball, Kaka was practically invisible, and what little attack there was ran through Barcelona’s Dani Alves, who was playing more centrally than he does with the Spanish champions. A Chilean defense missing two starters through suspension looked like world beaters.
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Mon, Jun 28, 2010
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