Brazil aim to purge ghosts of ’14
SAMBA SOUL Rebuilt under coach Tite after 71 rout by Germany, Neymar & Co face Switzerland on road to redemption
ROSTOV-ON-DON: Brazil has spent four years trying to atone for its last World Cup match, the calamitous 7-1 defeat as hosts by Germany. Popular coach Tite purged players, eased dependence on Neymar, and rebuilt a team that concedes few goals and blazed through qualification.
Those changes will be tested Sunday, when the Selecao start their campaign for a sixth World Cup title at the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-don against Switzerland.
Few embody Brazil’s rediscovered spirit more than Gabriel Jesus, the 21-year-old Manchester City striker: Four years ago he was photographed as a barefoot teenager painting the streets of his Sao Paulo neighborhood. Fast-forward to Russia and he’s a valued team resource, the top scorer in qualification with seven goals. “I don’t think of that (time) as suffering, but being Brazilian - being able to change,” he said. “For anyone, striving for your goal is not suffering. It’s a demonstration of courage. That’s where our pride comes from.”
Restoring much of its pride, Brazil was the first team to qualify for this World Cup, 17 games unbeaten and with a 3-0 victory over Argentina at the stadium where they’d sustained the infamous semifinal loss to Germany.
Making minor changes in friendlies, Tite appears to have settled on a core of starting players that trounced Austria 3-0 last week - with Neymar, Coutinho, Casemiro, Paulinho, and Willian forming a semi-circle around Gabriel Jesus as the center forward, in a 4-3-3 formation. Danilo, Thiago Silva, Miranda, and Marcelo form the defense in front of goalkeeper Alisson.
Switzerland, Gabriel Jesus admits, will be hard to rattle.
The Swiss would be taken lightly at their opponents’ peril.
Coach Vladimir Petkovic’s group of polyglot players has taken Switzerland to its fourth consecutive World Cup with ambitions to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in 64 years.
At his fourth World Cup, 33-year-old midfielder Valon Behrami says the Swiss can’t wait to take on Brazil. They haven’t met in a World Cup since 1950 and drew 2-2. Behrami acknowledged that his team’s defense is Neymar-focused while worrying about committing too many players to try and stop him.
“Sure, we hope that he has a bad day and we have a good day,” he said. “One player alone cannot stop him, because he is so fast and technically strong. We have to face him as a team.”
months after fracturing his foot while playing for Paris Saint-germain in February, Neymar’s participation in the World Cup had been matter of concern.
a steady recovery, returning to action in a warm-up friendly against Croatia, where he even scored after coming on as a substitute. Having found his scoring boots rather quickly, he also netted against Austria in the second warm-up match.
the world’s most expensive player an opportunity to finally prove his worth. Neymar may have won titles with Barcelona but Lionel Messi’s heroics rightfully took centrestage at the end.
of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — both of whom are yet to win the World Cup — Neymar can make his mark if he can lead Brazil to the title.
age, Neymar is already Brazil’s joint third-highest goal scorer — behind only Ronaldo and Pele — proving that he has it in him to deliver Brazil the title this time.
in the 2014 World Cup, he was involved in five of Brazil’s 11 goals (4 goals and 1 assist). Even in the 2018 qualifying, he was also involved in more goals than any other player with six goals and eight assists. Venue: Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-don Capacity: 43,472 Danilo
Marcelo Silva Miranda Casemiro Willian Alisson Coutinho Jesus Paulinho Neymar Sommer
Lichtsteiner
Schar
Behrami Shaqiri Matches
Rodriguez Akanji
Xhaka Dzemaili Mehmedi Seferovic Goals Goals
most balanced squads, Russia 2018 is being seen as Brazil’s best chance to end their World Cup drought. Coached by Tite and led by Neymar, they are also expected to showcase their famous flamboyant style of play.
Gabriel Jesus, scored more goals than any other Brazilian player in World Cup qualifying, with seven goals. Coutinho and Marcelo will be expected to chip in attack while Casemiro and Paulinho will control the middle. Their goalkeeper Alisson is also one of the best in the world at the moment. against Brazil is something the Europeans can be proud of. In their eight encounters, the Swiss have lost only thrice and won two times. Their main man,
(in pic) has been directly involved in five of Switzerland’s last six goals at major tournaments (4 goals, 1 assist). Before Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Spain on Friday, he was also the last player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup (v Honduras, 25 June 2014). Swiss captain and right-back Lichtsteiner will have his task cut out against Selecao winger Neymar, who carries Brazil’s hopes as they eye their record sixth title on their ‘revenge tour’. With his pace and skills, Neymar will be more than a handful for the Arsenal man. Arsenal and Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka will be locked in a tough battle with Casemiro for control of the midfield. Known for his prowess in a team that likes to play in the opponent’s half, Casemiro is touted as ‘world’s best defensive midfielder’. Source: ladbrokes.com Drawn Won Won Matches Matches Best finish: Drawn Winners in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994,
2002 Lost Lost
Best finish: QF in 1934, 1938, 1954
team to have taken part in every World Cup since 1930. This will be their 21st appearance in as many tournaments.
in their last 12 World
Cup group games, winning 10 and drawing two. Their last defeat in the group phase came in 1998 against Norway.
their group in every single World Cup since 1982 and last failed to progress past the first round in 1966.
Played