Pearce takes on the rolling roadshow
AS Stuart Pearce prepares for Olympic football with Team GB, Brazil’s rolling roadshow will give Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium a glimpse of their rarefied talent tonight.
Great Britain boss Pearce claims he had no hesitation in accepting the challenge of facing the Brazilians in the build-up to the Games. It is a unique test and on show will be the likes of Paris SaintGermain signing Thiago Silva, Real Madrid full back Marcelo, Manchester United target Lucas Moura and Porto striker Hulk.
The centre of attention, though, is Oscar, Brazil’s new No 10 with a £25million price tag. He has passed a medical at Chelsea and is set to join them after spearheading his country’s attempt to win Olympic gold for the first time.
At 20 he is part of a new beginning for Brazilian football under forward-thinking manager Mano Menezes. Oscar ( below) is a favourite of Menezes, forcing his way into the full squad and an automatic selection for his country as they prepare to host the World Cup in 2014.
In an interview in Brazil last week, Oscar said: ‘ Mano has always talked to me and made me feel very comfortable.
‘ I’ve always had a lot of liberty. That’s why I played so well for the junior Brazil teams and now with the full team. I hope to keep it that way.’
Oscar was regarded as one of the best players in last year’s Under 20 World Cup — Brazil won it, and he scored a hat-trick in the final — and he has already played six times for the senior side, scoring his first goal in the 4-3 defeat by Argentina last month. His club Internacional were unable to resist Chelsea’s offer, accepting a £25m bid ahead of the Olympic squad’s arrival in London. His short career has been complicated by contractual disputes at first club Sao Paulo; he quit acrimoniously and headed south to Inter. The stand-off with Sao Paulo prevented him from playing for 50 days, as Brazil’s Football Confederation intervened. He was left out of the Sao Paulo team to play in the 2010 Copa Libertadores, punishment for playing power games with the president of the club. They developed him, buying his family a house and car as part of the deal.
By 17 he was married and Chelsea are making arrangements to ensure this young family will be able to settle in Surrey.
And the club are convinced he has the talent to be a central part of their future. Since leaving Sao Paulo he has matured into one of Brazil’s most eye-catching players, who can pick the killer pass and has the ability to hit a free-kick that is feared throughout South American football.
But in his first season in English football, Chelsea will have to manage their playmaker carefully — beyond his Olympic commitments, Oscar will be in Brazil’s Confederations Cup team next summer as the country stages a dress rehearsal for the World Cup.
No doubt Pearce has had to make plans to combat him, but Brazil have plenty of talent beyond Oscar’s obvious threat. Pearce said: ‘When the game was put to me, do we want to take Brazil on or do we want to take somebody on who, on paper, are slightly lesser, I said I was more than happy to take Brazil on.
‘It’s the perfect game for us, it sharpens the focus and it does my job for me. Hopefully it’ll be the start of something special.
‘Once again this year England have gone out of a major championship on penalties. I’ve got the experience of that on both sides, that’s why my focus is even more acute. If you’re going to win a tournament, the chances are you’ve got to win a penalty shootout along the way.’