Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
To banish 2014 shock
time around, not many would bet against them adding trophy No 6 to the collection.
Head coach Tite will be eager to banish any lingering memories of that catastrophic 7-1 thumping dished out by Germany to the Brazilians in the semifinal last time out as quickly as possible. Neymar. Dundee United favourite John Rankin is an unlikely local link.
As a youngster at Manchester United, Rankin, who would go on to play more than 200 times for the Tangerines, was sent by manager Sir Alex Ferguson on loan to Brazilian giants Corinthians.
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Along with team-mate Ben Muirhead, Rankin described his short time in Sao Paulo as a disaster, going days without food because they were unable to communicate with anybody.
The first Brazilian to play in Scotland was Sergio Gomes, signed by Ivan Golac for Dundee United in 1995. He found the net four times in 16 appearances before passport problems saw him sold to a club in Kuwait.
Brazilian striker Alex Cerdeira had a forgettable six-game spell at Dundee in 2004, scoring no goals. His last club was non-league Billiricay Town in England in 2013.
Switzerland
The Swiss are becoming regulars in tournament football, missing just one major competition since 2002.
They missed out on qualification to Portugal on goal difference despite winning their opening nine games. That saw them face Northern Ireland in the play-off with a dodgy penalty decision seeing them through to Russia. Xherdan Shaqiri.
Dundee’s Angolan international Genseric Kusunga was born in Geneva and started his career in the Swiss league with Servette and then twice won the national title with Basle.
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