Brazil beats Ghana

Brazil won Ghana today by 3 x 0.

Still, the team did not convince many Brazilians that they are capable of winning the Cup.
Parreira started the match with the same eleven players that started playing against Croatia and Australia: Dida, Cafu, Lucio, Juan, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Kaká, Ze Roberto, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Adriano.
It looks like Parreira, differently from the vast majority of Brazilians, didn't like the team which started against Japan, which included younger (and more motivated) Cicinho, Gilberto, Gilberto Silva, Juninho and Robinho.

The team was fortunate to score a goal early, at 5', in a quick counter attack with Ronaldo.
Then, during 40 minutes, Ghana dominated the game. They easily controlled the actions, and lost many chances to score. At 45', Adriano scored again.
In the second half, Brazil kept playing Very Slowly. TV Globo replayed the third goal a few times, showing that it took more than 20 passes and longer than one minute for the ball to reach Zé Roberto, who scored; Globo says that this is an evidence of how well the team coordinates passes, but I say this shows how incompetent the team is to reach the adversary's goal quickly.


At the end of the game, Parreira, not surprisingly, was satisfied: "to play beautiful is to win, and we won". Part of the media agrees with him.

Ronaldo was very happy, because now, with 15 goals, he is the player with most goals in a World Cup; he surpasses Gerd Muller, who had 14.
Also, Cafu was very happy, because now he is the Brazilian player with most participations in World Cups.

Brazil will play next against France.
Brazil loose to France in 1986 and in 2002.

Brazilians miss Felipão

Portugal won Holland, in the penalties shoot outs. The match had eight yellow cards and two yellow cards, the highest number ever in the History of World Cups.

The Portuguese team doesn't have many stars. Figo is still the best, but a little older; Cristiano Ronaldo is the best promise; Brazilian Deco is efficient in the midfield.
There seems to be a big difference from the current Portugal team to the others in recent past: the strenght of will. The players give more, dispute each play, run till the end.

Certainly, much of this is due to the coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, known as Felipão (Big Phil). Felipão was the Brazilian coach in the 2002 Cup. Felipão had seven winnings in a row in 2002, and had four more so far in 2006, setting a new record.

Felipão is doing with Portugal the same that he did in Brazil. Felipão hardly had chances to have an excellent set of players to work with; he was Brazilian champion with Grêmio, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro, always with but a few above average players, but always imposing his philosophy: get the most motivated players, have them to play seriously, give all they can, fight till the end.

To compare: this is NOT the philosophy of Parreira and Zagalo, and has never been. NOt that they encourage players to not fight, but they think that individual talent of players, associated with their ingenuous tactics, are enough to win.
Cafu and Roberto Carlos are known to be old and unmotivated, but, as they were useful in the past, they think they have a secure place in the team. Ronaldo is overweighted and slow, but, as he wants to score more goals to surpass Pelé, there he goes with the team.

It won't surprise me if Portugal and Felipão go farther into the Cup than Brazil and Parreira.

The most watched woman in Brazil

The name of this woman is Fatima Bernardes.
She is anchor-woman of Jornal Nacional, the most watched News Program of Brazilian TV, which airs around 8 pm in TV Globo; her husband, William Boner, is the anchor of the same News program.

Besides being very intelligent and talented, Fatima is nice and has a huge empathy. In 2002, Fatima was invited to be a "guest commentator" of the World Cup, and it so ended up that she was the one who most pleased TV Globo audience; despite not being an specialist, she had the ability to express what Brazilian fans were feeling.

This time, Fatima was sent to Germany from the beginning, to follow the Brazilian team. She appears every night in prime time, speaking about the most important events of the day in Germany.

She is, for sure, the most watched Brazilian woman during the World Cup.

Brazil beats Japan

Brazil won Japan yesterday by 4 x 1.
The Japanese team scored first. Ronaldo scored his first goal in the Cup at the last minute of first half; Juninho, Gilberto and Ronaldo again scored in the second half.

The Brazilian team changed five players from the first two matches. Cafu out, Cicinho in; Roberto Carlos out, Gilberto in; Emerson out, Gilberto Silva in; Zé Roberto out, Juninho in; Adriano out, Robinho in.

It is a general consensus that the team played much better.
Cafu, Roberto Carlos and Emerson are the oldest players in the team.
For some time now, Cicinho (who now plays in Real Madrid) has been outperforming Cafu.
Gilberto was still a little unknown, but he performed better than Roberto Carlos (Roberto Carlos has the most powerful shots of Brazil, but it is been long since his last goal; Gilberto entered and scored).
Emerson is known for his physical force.
Zé Roberto had been doing OK, but the problem here is that Juninho has been one of the best players in training, and was also one of the best in the match against Japan. If there is one unanimity about who should enter the team, that's Juninho (just to remember: before Juninho arrived in Lyon, five years ago, the Olympique had never been French champion; since his arrival, Olympique has been the champion for five years in a row now).

Robinho had entered the first two matches, and improved the team performance. It is becoming a growing consensus that Ronaldo and Adriano don't play well together, as they have similar roles.
Thanks to his fundamental participations in past Cups, Brazilian still give much credit to Ronaldo, despite his recent bad performances.

End of mistery: Ronaldo IS overweighted

The weight of Ronaldo has been causing some disputes, which included even the Brazilian President of the Republic. Everyone says (and sees) that Ronaldo is overweighted, he gets upset, he denies it, he says he will respond in the field, blah, blah,...

The one who could confirm or deny the overweight of Ronaldo is the doctor of the Brazilian team.
Every player has a medical/physical profile, which includes, of course, weight. All players were submitted to medical exams in Switzerland, before the team started the preparation.

The problem is that the doctors had never unveiled the weights of the players.

Yesterday, doctor Runco confirmed: Ronaldo arrived in Switzerland with a weight of 95 kg; his ideal weight is 90 kg.
So, indeed, Ronaldo is overweighted, and he was overweighted while playing the two first matches of the Brazilian team.

The good news: after the intensive physical programme, Ronaldo now is weighting 90.5 kg; so, he is only 0.5 kg above his ideal weight.


"..., then, you charge the President of drinking too much"

Brazil beats Australia

Brazil won Australia yesterday by 2 x 0.
Again, nobody in Brazil was enthusiastic over the victory. Most say that Ronaldo played a bit better than the first match, but the team is still very far from being convincing.

Again, Robinho entered in the second half, replacing Ronaldo, and the team started to play much better. A consensus is forming in Brazil that Ronaldo and Adriano occupy the same areas of the field, and when one leaves, the other has more room to perform.
More and more the influential media talks about Robinho replacing Ronaldo, or even Juninho replacing Ronaldo.

A good suprise was Fred. He entered the game five minutes before the end (replacing Adriano) and scored the second goal; in an interview, he said he feels blessed by God. Fred scored a goal in the first match after transferring to Cruzeiro, then scored in the first match with Olympique, and now scored a goal in the fist match in a World Cup.

The Repercussion

Brazilians were unanimous: the team was not up to expectations.
In interviews, coach Parreira and other players said that, after the first match, the team should improve.
Two players, Kaká and Adriano, hinted that the team was better with Robinho in place of Ronaldo.

An online survey by O Globo showed that more than 60% of Brazilian fans want Robinho instead of Ronaldo. On Wednesday, after the match against Croatia, Ronaldo felt dizziness and was taken to a hospital; the doctors suspected of sinusite and gastritis, but exams showed nothing.

The pressure is on Parreira, to substitute Ronaldo.
In the 1994 World Cup, Parreira faced a similar problem.
He had a preference for Raí, the player who led São Paulo FC into becoming the World Champion in 1992 and 1993. Raí had bad performances in the first three matches, against Russia, Cameron and Sweden; everyone asked Parreira to substitute him, but he insisted. In the first match of second stage, against USA, Raí was replaced by Mazinho, who played until the end of that Cup.

Ronaldo has more credentials than Raí had. Ronaldo scored 12 goals in World Cups, and he needs only 3 more to set a new record.
However, today Brazil has more options to replace Ronaldo (than we had to replace Raí). Parreira can simply took Ronaldo out and put Robinho in; then, Adriano would be the center-forward, and Robinho would be closer to Ronaldinho and Kaká. Or, as many are asking, Parreira could play with Juninho Pernambucano, who has been one of the best performers in the trainings; in such case, Ronaldo is out, Zé Roberto would be advanced a bit, and Juninho would do what Zé Roberto is doing today.

But it looks that, against Australia, Parreira will continue giving support to Ronaldo.

Brazil beats Croatia

Brazil was confident, but everyone knew Croatia would be a tough match. The match was tight mostly because Croatia has a goog team. Back in 2002, Brazil had also a difficult first match against Turkey, and the Turkish finished the Cup in 3rd place.

Ronaldo played very bad. Brazilian commentators are over respectful to Ronaldo, remembering that he had recent problems with blisters on his feet, and still is not fully recovered. Coach Parreira already said that Ronaldo will start playing the next match, against Australia on Sunday.
But the thruth is that the team was much better with Robinho. Adriano and Ronaldo occupy the same zones, and when one of them doesn't move around fast, the other also lacks room. By removing Ronaldo, Adriano gets deeper inside the goal area, and Robinho occupies the zone between the goal area and the midfield.
Online surveys indicate that Brazilian fans want Robinho instead of Ronaldo.

The team was saved by Kaká, who starts to confirm the forecasts that he will be the best Brazilian player in the World Cup.

I think that the result was excellent, the best possible for Brazil.
Had the team won by 3x0 or 4x0, few would see how slow the entire team is, when just one player doesn't move.
The victory by 1x0 gave Brazil the three points, and, yet, showed that the way ahead will be very tough.

Japan x Australia

This was the first match in the group of Brazil.
To me, the worst match so far in the Cup.
The Brazilian media considered Japan to be the favorite for this match. Players like Nakata and Nakamura are somewhat famous, Japan had a good performance in the last Cup, Japan is coached by Zico, Japan had some good results recently (such as the tie with Germany, two weeks ago).
Australia, on the other hand, had participated of only one World Cup (1974), and had not even scored a goal.

Both teams showed an absolute lack of individual skills.
Brazilians are even more confident now.

Ronaldo: "Lula drinks too much"

Last night, Rede Globo, the most popular Brazilian TV channel, aired an interesting interview.
President Lula, who is known for not being fond of talking to the Press (he used to talk a lot before becoming President, but after taking office he only gave two interviews), interviewed the coach of the Brazilian team, Carlos Alberto Parreira. This interview had a clear marketing intention, as Brazil is going to have elections later this year, and the President wanted to have public exposure.

President Lula asked Parreira: "There are rumors that Ronaldo is fat. I know he is not fat. But is he fat?". Parreira said that Ronaldo is not fat; he is much stronger than four or eight years ago, when he was younger; to be strong is not to be fat.

Today, Ronaldo responded to Lula.
Ronaldo is a rich man, he doesn't have political restraints, he has always been independent, he has no reason to fear or please any authorities (one of the reasons that makes him admired in Brazil).

Ronaldo said: "The President asked questions about my physical conditions, knowing that I was not there. And even if I were there, I could not answer, because questions to the President are forbidden during his interviews.
But, if I could, I would have several questions to ask to the President".

The reporters: "Such as?".

Ronaldo: "Several questions".
For a moment, people thought he would mention the corruption scandal involving several Presidential advisors, which Lula pretends not to exist.
But Ronaldo answered: "For example, people say that I am too fat, and people say that the President drinks too much. Just like people are mistaken about me, I think they are mistaken about the President".

Everybody knows that the President enjoys drinking, particularly cachaça. In 2004, the New York Times published an article stating that the President was drinking too much; in response, the President attempted to revoke the Visa of the NYT reporter (read about the case here).

By responding to the President, Ronaldo showed that: he fears no authority; he is pissed by the rumors about his overweight; he is anxious to play and win.

Ronaldo's feet with blisters. Nike's image is hurt.

In the match against New Zealand, Ronaldo left the field before the end of the game because of blisters on his left feet.

The doctors already said that the blisters do not worry. Ronaldo also said he is not worried. With current medicine, blisters are easily healed.

The most preoccupied party with the blisters is Nike. It is known that the blisters are caused by the new Ronaldo's shoes. And it is not a good marketing for Nike to read that their ultra-hiper-modern football shoes are causing blisters to one of the most watched players in the world.

In the 2002 World Cup, in the final match against Germany, the world watched Edmilson, who had his jersey torn by a German, take almost five minutes to put on a new jersey. That happened because Nike had invented a revolutionary two-layer shirt, which supposedly would absorb better the sweat; the problem is that putting such a shirt on takes a special technique.
After that Cup, Nike abandoned that idea, and now the Brazilian team wears a single-layer uniform.

Brazil arrives in Germany

Brazil arrived in Germany.

Until the match with Japan, on June 22n, the Brazilian team will be based in the Kempinski Hotel, in the city of Koenigstein (German for Royal Stone), near Frankfurt. After the June 22nd, the team will move, depending on where they are going to play next.

Differently from the staying in Weggis, when the trainings were all opened, and there was a frequent contact between the team and the population, the staying in Koenistein should be more reserved.
Access to the trainings will be restricted. By determination of FIFA, at least one training shall be opened to the public.

Update June 10th. Brazilian television showed a report about a secondary school in Koenigstein, which happens to be the only place with a view of the field where the Brazilian team is training; a few teachers and students are the only ones to watch the trainings.

Brazil beats New Zealand

No surprises.
Brazil won New Zealand by 4 x 0, in the last friendly match before the Cup begins.
Read what BBC wrote about the match.

The team which started the match should be also the team to start playing against Croatia: Dida, Cafu, Lucio, Juan, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Ze Roberto, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Adriano.

Edmilson is out of the team

Medical exams showed that the cartilage in Edmilson's right knee was torn.
Edmilson played in the 2002 World Cup; in 2006, he would be substitute of Émerson. Edmilson was important because he could play in midfield (as he does in his current team, Barcelona) or in defense (as he used to do in his Brazilian team, São Paulo).

In place of Edmilson, coach Parreira called Mineiro, from São Paulo FC, Brazil. São Paulo is current champion of the Clubs World Championship; in the final match, São Paulo won Liverpool by 1 x 0, and Mineiro was the scorer.

Other than that, Mineiro did very little either playing for his Brazilian clubs or for the Brazilian team. He has only three caps in the Brazilian team, one of them a friendly match to commemorate the farewell of Romário.
His calling was a surprise.