Brazil

The Samba Kings, an omnipresent force in World football, having being the only team to qualify for every World Cup. Their quest – World Cup glory for the 6th time, enabling them to consolidate their world dominance status by winning the tournament in the only continent they have not yet conquered – Africa. Their chances – undeniably strong. Their failures – not being English.

Brazil are undoubtedly the team that everyone wants to watch. The country’s multicultural openness is reflected in the uniqueness and creativeness that their football players have blessed us with over the years. However, this summer in South Africa, despite possessing the flair players we all anticipate, presents a very different Brazil from the team we are use to.

Dunga led his nation to World Cup glory in 1994 and to the final in France 98, with a tongue-tied Ronaldo among the famous players, and was the surprise appointment to the Brazil manager after the country crashed out in the quarter-finals to France in 2006. The sceptics saw this as an interim move, yet he has stuck out the course, reaching South Africa after topping the challenging South American qualifying group.
To achieve this feat however, Dunga has resorted to stability rather than creativity, much to the annoyance of the media in Brazil. This attitude is indicative of the manager’s own playing style. Dunga has usually opted for two holding midfielders – Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo – providing a more defensive outlook.

The pair sit in front of two very experienced centre-backs Juan and Lucio, who both not only played together for Bayer Leverkusen, but also made Bayer’s official “Squad of the Century” which was a mash-up of players who had played for the German side throughout the years. Behind them, Julio Cesar – res ipsa loquitur.

Brazil are not renowned usually for their keepers but in Cesar they have made up for years of unreliability. Anybody who has seen Inter Milan in the Champions League will know that he is good, come summer, you may realise just quite how good. Great at shot-stopping, organisationally secure and more than able to cope with any high balls, Brazil are in safe hands

These 5 players form the backbone of the team, around them the Brazil we know and love is encapsulated. Cesar’s and Lucio’s Inter teammate Maicon will play at right-back, keeping Barcelona’s Dani Alves on the bench! That really is the definition of strength in depth. Alves is usually the first substitute brought on by Dunga, an unusual accolade for a wing-back, however the player’s influence is so great he may get thrown in at left-back, even though he admits himself he cannot play there.

In front of the midfield defensive line will sit three attacking maestros – Elano, Kaka and Robinho. The onus will no doubt be on these men to provide the creative impetus to unlocking the opponents defence. If they fail, Villarreal’s Nilmar (who has 8 goals in 11 caps) and potentially even Ronaldino will be there to take their place.

Up front is out-and-out striker Luis Fabiano. 25 goals in 36 caps says it all and his club record this season is just as prominent, 15 goals in 23 games. However, he tends to lack concentration, although if my teammates could move the ball as swiftly as his, I would also be too much in awe to remember why I was there. His boots have a fair chance of matching his country’s top come July 11th.

If Brazil are to make it to the final, they will need to play well from the start. The accumulative world ranking of the teams in Group G (147) is one of the highest but that is due to North Korea (ranked 91st in the World) being in the otherwise “Group of Death”. Portugal scrapped through European qualifying yet obviously should not be underestimated by their Latino counterparts. As for the final spot, the Ivory Coast fill that. And with the World Cup being in Africa for the first time, they will intend to prove that African nations are a dominant force, and who would bet against them showing this?

The Brazilians will no doubt bring the party to South Africa, they also provide very amiable crowd shots. Dunga has added a once exempt defensive approach to the nation’s free-flowing outlook, yet that mind-set still remains strong in many of the players. So does World Cup glory await them again? It seems like a distinct possibility.