Toca Bola: A Brazilian Soccer Team Blog

afootballreport:

What if Anderson Silva chose futebol over fighting?

Spoiler: the alternate universe of Brazilian mixed martial artist Anderson Silva choosing football over UFC ends with Pelé slapping the fighter across the face.

But beyond the slap, the entire idea of a world with Anderson Silva, the footballer, is incredible. Sure, it doesn’t last long, but he knows how to tackle and he knows how to kick. He just does it with his own style. If Brazil need an enforcer for 2014, here he is. You can find the whole video here.

Grande Anderson!!

Brazilian national head coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari confirmed to reporters yesterday that he already knows what his squad will be when the Selecao for the Confederation’s Cup. This is a significant declaration when you consider that the Confed Cup team is traditionally a 80-90 % predictor for the full World Cup squad. Scolari explained,

“I have no doubts, but I am afraid as the tournaments are reaching the latter stages.” “They are tough games, intense and someone might get injured that might force me to change the squad.”

It’s anybody’s guess what the World Cup veteran coach has in mind but his resoluteness, if anything else, is assuring. Fans won’t have long to wait for the announcement either. The official announcement of the squad that will play the tournament will be released on May 14th. Who do you think made the cut? - tB

Brazil vs Bolivia highlights

Brazil side for friendly against
Italy.

J.César

D.Alves, Dante, David Luiz, Filipe Luís

Fernando, Hernanes; Oscar

Hulk, Fred, Neymar

… No Thiago Silva but I like Hernanes in there. Also, Is Fred up to the test? - tB

J. Cesar

Marcelo, T.Silva,Lucio,D.Alves

Lucas, Fernandinho

Ganso

Neymar, Pato, Ronaldinho 

….

This past Saturday Mano lined up what many expect to be the starting formation for our latest friendly against Ghana on Monday. At first glance Selecao fans will be happy to see a change of personnel after a string of lack lustre performances. The lineup does indeed have some dynamic changes that could have a significant impact on the way this team expresses itself. 

Marcelo takes back the left back slot after seeming to repair his relationship with the coaching staff. He is a gifted athlete with a higher technical level than A. Santos. He is exceptional with the ball at his feet and has no problem getting past his defenders. Although shorter than Santos, Marcelo is younger, arguably quicker and more substantially more creative with the ball. I’m still not sold on his defensive abilities and weary of his tendency to become emotionally compromised when provoked. This Selecao team has developed an unfortunate reputation for losing their heads when their backs are against the wall and can ill afford to have players that exacerbate this tendency.

Marcelo’s trickery will be a new asset on the left side of the defensive unit

Fernandinho takes Ramires’ long held position alongside Lucas in the middle of the park. He is described as having tons of pace and a good shooters touch. Whether he is any more productive than Ramires will have to remain to be seen. When it comes to the Selecao, everyone has “a ton of pace and good shot.” The real key, and missing ingredient thus far, has been a consistent display of deft passing and players capable of initiating and organizing the attack. 

Fernandinho hopes to make an impression in the Selecao midfield

The real story of this latest call up has been the re-emergence of former world player of the year, Ronaldinho. Practically all but forgotten a year ago, ‘Dinho has played his way back on to the scene. I have watched him play for Flamengo a few times this season and have to admit that he seems to have regained his joy for playing. Yet, this is not the Ronaldinho that dazzled audienes and defenders while playing for FC Barcelona. This latest version of Ronaldinho is slower, but wiser with the ball. His imagination will benefit this team in need of ideas and a touch of old Brazilian flair. - tB.

Is this Ronaldinho’s second act?

Recent callup Jonas could take the starting No. 9 shirt from Pato.

Mano has made some 1st time callups and changes to the team that lined up against Paraguay in the Copa America. Dede of Vasco da Gama, Ralf of Corinthians and Luiz Gustavo of Bayern Munich have all been given their first callups to the national team. Mano explained Ralf’s selection as cover for a potentially suspended Lucas in the teams next match (he was given a red card against Paraguay.) It’s a bit surprising to see Jadson was dropped from the squad. He played reasonably well against Paraguay and scored a goal even. Most curious also is how Hernanes and Hulk cannot seem to register on Mano’s radar. Hernanes turned in an excellent season at Lazio and all Hulk did was lead the Portuguese league in goal scorering. Mano commented that defender Dede had been on his radar for some time and his chance had arrived. I presume he’s a left sided fullback; I’ll profile him in an upcoming post. Also, Mano decided to try out Luiz Gustavo who he called a “left-footed midfielder who has the capacity to open up the left side of the pitch.” Finally Mano also called up Jonas as a potential forward. Mano explained that he was not 100% sold on his options at the Copa America and Jonas could be an option to take the starting number 9 shirt. Pato is on alert! Below is the full call up list:

(New callups and first timers in bold)

Goalkeepers
Júlio César (Inter de Milão-ITA)
Victor (Grêmio)

Defenders
Daniel Alves (Barcelona-ESP)
Maicon (Inter de Milão-ITA
André Santos (Fenerbahce-TUR)
Lúcio (Inter de Milão-ITA)
Thiago Silva (Milan-ITA)
David Luiz (Chelsea-ING)
Dedé (Vasco da Gama) first cap

Midfielders
Lucas Leiva (Liverpool-ING)
Ramires (Chelsea-ING)
Ralf (Corinthians) First cap
Elias (Atlético de Madrid-ESP)
Luiz Gustavo (Bayern de Munique-ALE) First cap
Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos)
Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk-UCR)
Renato Augusto (Bayer Leverkuse-ALE)
Lucas (São Paulo)

Forwards
Neymar (Santos)
Robinho (Milan-ITA)
Alexandre Pato (Milan-ITA)
Fred (Fluminense)
Jonas (Valencia-ESP)

Now that the dust has settled on what was a truly bizarre quarter final between Brazil and Paraguay it’s time to look back on the tournament as a whole. It’s hard to accurately gauge where Mano’s team is as far as progress goes. Yes - the team improved throughout the tournament, 4 games in total. However, the team also produced many questions that beg answering. Where does Dani Alves figure in the team from here going forward? Is Pato the clinical point man we need at the front line? Why was our backline so out of sorts during large portions of this tournament? Is Mano’s system the most effective with this group of players?

Alot of commentators are pointing to the fact that Brazil dominated the Paraguay match and should not be faulted for their loss. The fact remains though that for all their possession they were equally guilty for wasted chances. Dominating a game means putting away your chances. You do not win tournaments, much less the World Cup by putting on an “improved display.” Moral victories count for very little when you are expected to win the World Cup in 3 years. One thing was clear, Brazil was poor in finishing albeit unlucky also. Also, Brazil lost their cool again and were made to pay the price by going down to 10 men. This is becoming a regular and unfortunate characteristic of these Brazil teams. Discipline is fundamental and necessary if you’re going to challenge the worlds best. 

The team’s improvement, while gradual, was good to see. On the other hand, it came amidst a very challenging setting. The federation will have to set up many more friendlies to really have a good picture of what this team is capable of. As far as roster decisions go I think Mano has succeeded more than failed. Pato’s horrible luck is hopefully just that - a bad run of fortune. The midfield is spoiled with options, although the Ramires slot really should be looked at more in depth. The defense is solid and has adequate backup. Neymar’s imminent move to Europe will go along way in developing his grit and experience, something that I want to say he lacked in this tournament. Robinho should be seen as the core veteran at the front of this team now. His involvement is key to keeping the unit together. With that said, it was worrying to see very little disappointment in him or most of the team at the end of the game last night. If you’re going to wear the shirt, I think it’s reasonable to expect you’re going to bleed for the shirt. Figuratively and literally if need be. - tB

It has been a busy month for the Brazilian federation which has already had its U-17 and both senior Women’s and Men’s team compete in major competitions. Now on the heels of all that activity comes the latest announcement for the U-20 squad which will compete in the U-20 World Cup in Colombia. The squad features many of the youngsters that won the South American championship just a few months ago. The team features Santos’ LB Alex Sandro, Casemiro, Inter Milan’s Coutinho, and Willian. Unfortunately there will be no Lucas but I hope they go out and put on a good showing. The list is as follows:

Aleksander
César
Gabriel
Bruno Uvini
Rodrigo Frauches
Juan
Romário
Alex Sandro
Danilo
Gabriel Silva
Galhardo
Allan
Casimiro
Fernando
Alan Patrick
Dudu
Oscar
Philippe Coutinho
Henrique
Negueba
Willian

Dani Alves - not the man for the job?

Came across this blog recently proposing the argument that Dani Alves is not suited to be the starting full-back for the Selecao. Based off his recent performances it’s hard to argue with this assertion. What he, and other pundits, argue is that Alves has coverage for his shaky defensive play at Barcelona. Meanwhile, when playing for the Selecao, that cover is non existent and therefore he is exposed on way more occasions. What do you guys think? 

Brazil vs Ecuador. Breakdown here. (Photo courtesy of Zonalmarking.net)