Chastened Brazil to take no chances against Australia
MELBOURNE: The world’s number one team Brazil will not be under- estimating Australia as they bid to rebound from their Superclasico loss to Argentina, officials said Sunday.
The f ive- t ime World Cup champions are eager to bounce back from their 1- 0 loss to their great South American rivals in Tuesday’s friendly against the Confederations Cup- bound Socceroos in Melbourne.
A goal from Sevilla defender Gabriel Mercado just before halftime meant a morale- boosting victory for Argentina under their new manager Jorge Sampaoli and was Brazil’s first loss in manager Tite’s year-long tenure.
TheBrazilians, whowill be forced to replace injured Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus, are taking no chances and have scouted the 48th-ranked Australians ahead of their Melbourne game.
Brazil have already qualified for next year’s World Cup finals in Russia while Australia kept alive their automatic qualifying hopes with a 3-2 win over the 53rdranked Saudi Arabia in Adelaide on Thursday.
“We sent someone to watch the game,” Brazil team coordinator Edu Gaspar said Sunday.
“It’s important for us to follow the team and learn about the team, and Australia is the same.
“They are doing well -- they won the game so they have nearly qualified to the World Cup as well.
“When teams are close or already qualified for the World Cup, they have something special.
“Nobody can go to the World Cup because they’re lucky, they have to do something important. That’s why we respect them a lot and are focused to play against them very well.”
He was backed by Brazil’s young Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho, who played in the defeat to Argentina before more than 95,000 fans at the MCG on Friday.
“We’re expecting a great game, nowadays football in general worldwide is very similar and tough so I expect a tough game and I’m looking forward to it,” Continho said.
“It’s going to be a great game. I’m very excited.”
Tite wi l l have to f ind a replacement for Jesus, who sustained a broken eye socket during the loss to Argentina.
Jesus was carried from the field late in the game after being hit by a stray elbow during an aerial challenge with his Manchester City team-mate Nicolas Otamendi.