» Friendly Matches

Brazil 2 – 0 Ireland.

ana — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:44:25 +0000

Brazil played its last match before going to the World Cup in South Africa. Dunga’s team did its job by beating Ireland 2 – 0 with two oals from Robinho, but some things are still clearly wrong.

To start, Brazil’s left midfield, which hasn’t been working since Roberto Carlos left in 2006. So many have been there yet the best option seems to be Dani Alves, a right midfield. And the one who deserved better chances at it, Real Madrid’s Marcelo, has only played a few matches with Seleção.~~Oh yeah, that seems to be the position for manager’s money~~

Another issue is Robinho, who is a total punk and plays well only once every 2 years. Today he did well (after months and months of not doing shit) so we hope he decides to put in some effort while in South Africa… chances are Dunga will play him as a starter.

Now back to the match, it was a good one. Second goal was amazing – Robinho you punk! Kaká did just ok, still a good asset. Graffite is a better option then Adriano up front, but the again, a lot of other forwards are (Pato or Nilmar, for example). Maicon completely owns the right wing as he should. And defense boys Juan and Lucio are as solid as they can be.

Is Brazil ready for the World Cup? Here are the goals.

Dunga very close to defining who will play in South Africa

Ana — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:27:41 +0000

Yesterday Dunga (and his loyal soldier Jorginho) called the squad to take on Ireland on March 2nd, the last friendly match before Dunga calls the final players who will play the World Cup in South Africa. No surprises, really. Ronaldinho is probably staying out even though he’s been doing well in AC Milan. ~~Punk~~ Robinho is likely to stay in even though he does absolutely nothing for the national team except for a goal every 2 years.

Here are the lucky lads:

GOALIES
Julio César (Inter Milan)
Doni (Roma)

OUTSIDE MIDFIELDERS
Maicon (Inter Milan)
Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Gilberto (Cruzeiro) — really???
Michel Bastos (Lyon)

MIDFIELDERS
Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos)
Josué (Wolfsburg)
Felipe Melo (Juventus)
Kaká (Real Madrid)
Ramires (Benfica)
Elano (Galatasaray)
Julio Baptista (Roma)
Kleberson (Flamengo) — really? ~~manager’s money~~

DEFENDERS (awesome choice!)
Juan (Roma)
Lúcio (Inter de Milão)
Luisão (Benfica)
Thiago Silva (Milan)

FORWARDS
Robinho (Santos) – no comments
Adriano (Flamengo)
Nilmar (Villarreal)
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla)

Video: Brazil 2 – 0 Oman

Bruno Romani — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:08:16 +0000

Nilmar again and an own goal.

Another Big One Defeated: Brazil 1 – 0 England

Bruno Romani — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:42:41 +0000

Brazil and England was going to be a reserve festival, as injuries took away many players from the match. So if in theory this is a match with no favorites, in reality, Brazil got that title as it had less players in the ER. Brazil had the responsibility to play better and add another match to the unbeaten streak against England that is 19 years-old.

When the match started both sides marked in the attacking field, and spaces were rare. However little by little, Brazil started to get more possession. And little by little, the selecao had the control of the match as expected. The only problem for Brazil is that it made mistakes in the final touch – be it an assist or a shot.

Those mistakes made difficult for more thrilling moments, but the match was far from being boring. The two sides were taking it seriously, and there was an impression that even without many chances, a goal was going to happen anytime – especially because Dunga’s side always behave well against big rivals.

Nilmar, in the left, was the most dangerous player for Brazil. Too bad he missed the help of yet another left-back. Lyon’s Michel Bastos, who was having his debut, did not have a bad match, but was a bit shy in the attack (even though, ironically, he created the biggest chance of the first-half with a shot that passed close to the post).

In the second-half, Nilmar, in 10 minutes, decided the match. In the first minute, he received a precious assist from Elano (whom, like him or not, always gives at least one excellent assist per game) and , with a classy touch using his head, scored the only goal of the match. Nine minutes later, he created another clear chance out of thin air by stealing the ball and getting a penalty. Too bad Luis Fabiano did a Roberto Baggio. Luckily for him, his already in the cup.

And this is important, especially now, because not only Nilmar seems more and more in the cup, but because he seems to belong to the starting eleven. If Robinho does not watch out, he may end up not only in the bench, but also watching the cup in the TV. For all the other forwards (Pato, Adriano, Hulk, Tardelli, Ronaldo…) planning to go to the cup, there’s only one spot left. And if they plan to increase that number of spots, their rival is Robinho, not Nilmar.

After the two chances, the reserves of England seemed lost and Brazil gave signs that it was going to massacre them. That fire, however, lasted very little. The speed fell and Brazil wasted time and counter-attacks. England had only one clear chance in the entire match.

Then, came the moment of more debuts: Hulk and Carlos Eduardo. But both did not have much and were very shy. On the other hand, the ones shinning were Thiago Silva, with a solid performance, and Lucio, who hit the post in a marvelous long range. He deserved it.

And that was it. Brazil beat another big rival this year, and beating Argentina (in Argentina), Italy (twice), England and Uruguay (in Uruguay) in the same year is for very few.

For England, there’s only one thing to say: their bench material is terrible.

The secret is in the yellow shirt…

Ana — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:19:27 +0000

Nice commercial by Brahma made for the friendly tomorrow against England. I even cried a little

WTF?! Fabio Simplicio Called to the National Team!

Bruno Romani — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:25:13 +0000

Another surprise of Dunga, and not a good one this time. Ramires, injured, will be replaced by Palermo’s Fabio Simplicio in the matches against England and Oman. This just doesn’t make sense.

The Good-bye of Sorin

Bruno Romani — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:07:46 +0000

Sorin played yesterday his last match as a professional footballer. And the stage for the farewell party could be no other place than the Mineirao, in Belo Horizonte. And the teams on the field could be no different than Argentinos Juniors, club where the left-back started his career, and Cruzeiro, club for whom he professes all his love. Sorin played most of the match for Cruzeiro. You read it, right – most of the match. For 13 minutes, the left-back played for Argentinos. But the 62 thousand Cruzeiro fans were there to see him playing for the home team. And he did so. Cruzeiro won 2-1, but that was just a detail. The fans knew that they were watching the final chapter not only of Sorin’s career, but of one of their idols. Before the match, Sorin had his footprints taken to be part of Mineirao’s walk of fame.

And it’s remarkable that Sorin gets all this love. It’s rare for foreign players to get that in Brazil. Being from Argentina makes it even more unlike. But he got it -lots of love. Congratulations!

Dunga Calls Fabio Aurelio, Hulk and Michel Bastos

Bruno Romani — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:39:02 +0000

Dunga announced today the players who will play the last 2 matches of the year (against England and Oman). And he had a few surprises. Given that he decided not to call players from Brazilian clubs (and therefore was unable to call Adriano and Diego Tardelli), he called forward Hulk. But he wasn’t the only surprise. Liverpool’s Fabio Aurelio (finally) and Lyon’s Michel Bastos got their calls.

More than friendlies, these 2 matches are the final tests for Dunga before the World Cup. Brazil has only 2 matches scheduled before the cup, and by that, Dunga should have the squad already chosen.

So what ca we make of today’s call? Diego is out – no matter how well his doing at Juventus. He really blew up his chances. As it is the case with Anderson (thank God). Unless something terrific happens, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo are out as well. As i see it, Pato will have to wait for his first world cup too. Unlike all these names, Nilmar seems to have a ticket for South Africa.

Talking about the team, it’s obvious that the left-back is the position which is completely open. If Fabio Aurelio and Michel Bastos deliver it well, they may be going to South Africa. More than that, it seems that Dunga is looking for side-backs who can also play in the midfield (as it happens with Daniel Alves in the right). Or he may choose midfielders who can play as sidebacks, as it’s the case with Spartak’s Alex. In that case, if he decides to take a natural left-back and Alex, we have a spot open for another midfielder or forward. This may be the reason why he took Carlos Eduardo from Hoffenheim to be tested. It remains to be seen.

As for Julio Baptista, there’s no mystery: Dunga trusts him.

The complete roster:

GOALKEEPERS:
Julio César (Inter de Milão)
Doni (Roma)

SIDEBACKS:
Maicon (Inter de Milão)
Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Michel Bastos (Lyon)
Fábio Aurélio (Liverpool)

CENTERBACKS:
Luisão (Benfica)
Juan (Roma)
Naldo (Werder Bremen)
Lúcio (Inter de Milão)

MIDFIELDERS:
Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos)
Josué (Wolfsburg)
Ramires (Benfica)
Felipe Melo (Juventus)
Julio Baptista (Roma)
Kaká (Real Madrid)
Elano (Galatasaray)
Alex (Spartak Moscou)
Carlos Eduardo (Hoffenheim)
Lucas (Liverpool)

FORWARDS:
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla)
Nilmar (Villarreal)
Hulk (Porto)
Robinho (Manchester City)

Brazil Will Take on England in November

Bruno Romani — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:04:20 +0000

CBF announced today that Brazil will play a friendly match against England on November 14th. Where? Doha, Qatar. Why? The organization sold the right of all friendlies of the national team. And the people who bought it can organize the matches wherever they please.

In the meantime, While CBF pockets money and Brazilian fans do not get to see their national squad, Brazilian clubs struggle financially. More than that: a lot of public money will be invested in the 2014 World Cup. Couldn’t CBF use some of its money?

Photo: Brazil Conducts Maradona’s Funeral

Bruno Romani — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:09:50 +0000

In the match Brazil-Chile, a local fan shows the status of Maradona ahead of the national team.