Know your opponent: Brazil

They are the samba dancers, the saucers of football; without them football will lose much of its glitter. if countries and people had stereotypes, then the stereotype of Brazil is football; the reckless factories of Rio De Janeiro never stop producing talents that entertain football fans all over the world, literally, you find a Brazilian player anywhere you go on this planet; the old saying sums it up perfectly “the English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it”

These were the same factories that produced the likes of Pele, Zico, Rivaldo, Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and many many others.

Searching for the record of fame of the Brazilians isn’t a difficult task except that you will be amazed about how much they achieved; when checking the FIFA rankings, it would be very bizarre If you didn’t find them on top, despite their decline lately; one have to give these guys the respect they deserve.

These guys can do wonders, Take a look

Team roster

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur), Victor (Gremio)

Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Alex (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Luisao (Benfica), Kleber (Internacional), Andre Santos (Corinthians).

Midfielders: Anderson (Manchester United), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Ramires (Cruzeiro), Elano (Manchester City), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Kaka (AC Milan)

Forwards: Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Internacional), Robinho (Manchester City).

Coach: Dunga

Wow, these guys aren’t taking any chances; they are going to field their best, no place for experiments and trials.

Team preview

Goalkeepers

although they were always deemed a strong team and very difficult opponent to play against, their goalkeeping has been always there Achilles heel; however, this is starting to change a lot. Brazilian keeper like Cesar and Doni are invading Italy’s Serie A competing with local keepers in a country known for producing great talents in that particular position. However, Gomes isn’t as good as Cesar and can make some silly mistakes but overall a good keeper.

Defenders

Maicon, probably the best right wing in Europe this season scoring some great and crucial goals for inter this year or Daniel Alves, a player I personally enjoy to watch; a great mix of skill, talent, speed and powerful leg or Lucio, the stubborn defender, although he sometimes make some bad mistakes with Bayern (remind me of Beshir El Tabei) not to mention Alex and Juan; they are all tough defenders to play against, it will take extra skills and team work from our players to beat those

Midfielders

Kaka (recently moved to real Madrid and will be playing with high spirit), Baptista, Anderson…..enough said.

Forwards

a mix of Pato, another great young talent that has proved its worth quickly in one of the hardest places to play especially for young players, AC Milan, and Fabiano, one of the most significant strikers in spain this season and Robinho, although not the same old Robinho can make wonders; it will take more and more defenders from our part to stop them.

Team record

World cup

Winner (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Runners-Up (1950, 1998)
Third (1938, 1978)
Fourth (1974)

Continental titles

Copa America (1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007)

Other

FIFA U-20 World Cup Final (1983, 1985, 1993, 2003)
FIFA Confederations Cup (1997, 2005)
FIFA Club World Cup (2000, 2005, 2006)

And a lot others, but I chose the most significant.

Head to head record

Egypt – Brazil: 0/5
(Cairo, friendly, 20/4/1960)

Egypt – Brazil: 1/3
(Alexandria, friendly, 1/5/1960)

Egypt – Brazil: 0/3
(Cairo, friendly, 6/5/1960)

Egypt – Brazil: 0/1
(Cairo, friendly, 17/5/1963)

Brazil scored 12; we scored 1 (I want to personally greet this player)
So it is going to be the first official match

Last match

You can learn more about brazil from Duvel at the Brazil blog