Since reassuming the reins of the Seleção last August, Dunga’s manifesto has contained two over-arching promises, both designed to clear up the mess of the previous administration, as manifestos are wont to do. Firstly, to expunge the memory of the game now known in common parlance as “the 7-1.” Dunga has made a good start with a perfect set of friendly results, but the Copa América in Chile would be the first proper band aid […]
France – 1 Varane 21′ Brazil – 3 Oscar 40′, Neymar 57′, Luiz Gustavo 69′ This victory at the Stade de France was Brazil’s 16th consecutive friendly win, and one which saw Dunga’s men line up in a formation containing no real centre forward. The shape was a very fluid 4-2-2-2 formation, in which much of the play was focused down the left hand side. The roaming play of Neymar, Oscar, and occasionally Filipe Luis down this […]
When asked the question – “which is the greatest footballing nation ever?” – the majority would answer Brazil, or the first name that would come to one’s mind will be Brazil. Despite this, The Seleção are going through one of their roughest periods at the moment, with critics claiming that it’s the worst Brazilian national team in recent history. Some have gone as far as to say that they’re being carried by the one and only star man in the […]
Neymar’s absence from the rest of the World Cup has turned into a national crisis. Even Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff chimed in with this message for the main man, in what a cynic might see as a political move to get fans onside ahead of October’s elections… The worrying thing is that no one seems to have a confident answer when asked about the team without Neymar. Even more worrying is the prospect of playing […]
There’s a catchy song doing the rounds on Brazilian TV which has a chorus – “Mostra tua força Brasil” – which translates as “show your strength, Brazil”. During last night’s game, they might have taken this show of strength too far for their own good. The Seleção’s quarter-final against Colombia will be remembered as the match which saw Neymar’s World Cup come to an end. The much talked about “poster-boy” of Brazil suffered a knee […]
Brazil secured the top spot in group A after duly disposing of a Cameroon side who exited the tournament without a single point. The Seleção weren’t entirely convincing as they advanced to the knock-out stages, but progression is the only aim at this stage and the host nation are an intriguing, entertaining prospect heading towards the business end. The starting eleven which was widely predicted before the start of the tournament has been Luiz Felipe Scolari’s mainstay, […]
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Brazil face South Korea at midday this Saturday (UK time), with plenty of players in the side looking to make an impression as the 2014 World Cup gets ever closer. The game will take place at the Seoul World Cup Stadium – one of the stadiums used during the 2002 World Cup which was won by Scolari’s Brazil, although they didn’t play there. Brazil will face a South Korean side who have already […]
Brazil dribbles and shimmies its way tentatively into the 2013 Confederations Cup, with many great questions waiting to be answered. As a nation which churns out footballers for export with an efficiency and regularity only matched by their coffee production, its players cover every corner of the globe, which makes choosing a squad for the Seleção a mammoth task which no manager will ever get 100% right. The choice of personnel is only a minor […]
The Botafogo Star had the pleasure of interviewing @BrazilStats and its accompanying blog http://brazilstats.wordpress.com. Read on to see what he had to say about the current state of the Brazil national team ahead of the World Cup next year, and his view on Neymar’s development amongst other things. Who do you think Brazil’s star players will be at the 2014 World Cup, and are there any players who are currently relatively unknown who could stand out? […]
Multiple sources, including Brazil’s Sport newspaper, are reporting that Neymar will be joining Barcelona this summer – much earlier than was originally thought. It has long been touted that the Brazil’s most coveted wonderkid will be waiting until after the 2014 World Cup, for which Brazil are the hosts, before making his high profile move to Europe. There have also been several rumours from Spain that Barcelona have taken out considerable player insurance policies, which […]