Pierre Boisrond has followed soccer and the World Cup
closely for many years and also writes for other websites. We at PWC are proud to have him as
a columnist. He will share his views about the past, present and future of
the World Cup.
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Opponents - Beware of Brazil
The Brazilian national team currently is not the favorite to win the World Cup, so said the pundits. However, Brazil is Brazil. If there’s a team
out there that can win the World Cup on individual talents, Brazil is clearly that team. Make no mistake about this Brazilian national team, this
team will be ready when the World Cup starts. When facing Brazil in any tournament, coaches know that they have to be at their best,
or it will be all over. We must remember that the only team that beat Argentina in the qualifiers was Brazil, and that was the best game Brazil
played in the whole qualifiers.
For those who want to count Brazil out, they need to rethink their thoughts. The Brazilian players know that they’ll have to
silence their critics, and national teams need to be at the highest alert when they face the "auriverde". After losing to France 0-3 in 1998
Finals, the Brazilian players know that they will have to redeem themselves. No doubt about that -- on talent alone, Brazil can beat any team.
Those who think Brazil are done will be very shocked in June.
In June, the world will find out if the Brazilian internationals will bring the cup back to the Americas. If Argentina is the favorite, they
need to be aware of the Brazilians; if not, the Argentine tango won’t be able to resist the Brazilian samba. If there’s a team now
that can give Argentina a headache, Brazil certainly is the team. Brazil always play Argentina at the highest level. Even in the last qualifier’s
game, Brazil could have been up 3-0 in Argentina, but the strikers could not finish due to some heroic stops from the Argentinian goalkeeper,
Burgos. Argentina won the game because Scolari's men armed a defensive side in the second half. Thus, Scolari must not repeat this
mistake again. Brazil lost the game after Ortega tormented the Brazilian defenders. Now it is time for the Brazilians to prepare themselves
mentally and they must not take any team lightly, underdogs or not. At World Cup level there’s no such thing as an easy win, a team must
compete at the highest possible level to win. It does not matter if Brazil have an easy group, what matters the most is that Scolari and company
need to get a win. After all, Brazil are not responsible for being grouped with Turkey, Costa Rica and China.
Columnists, coaches, fans might say that Brazil have such an easy group. Well, was that Brazil’s fault? Not at all, the question is that Scolari
know that he must get his team prepared to win when it matters the most. At the moment of truth, we know that specialists like Roberto
Carlos, Cafu, and Rivaldo will step it up to give the "Auriverde" the win. Ronaldo will be there as well and if he can play well, then defenders
better be ready to learn something special from the talented Ronaldo, even if defenders come from the so called group of death.
If Argentina fall in the group of death, then it is good for Brazil to fall in the group of the living because the Americas only have Brazil and
Argentina to bring the trophy back to the Americas. After all, the Europeans have many contenders such as France, Portugal, Spain,
England, and Italy to bring the trophy to Europe, or keep it there.
We may not want to underestimate the Brazilians. History is on their side, and we all know Brazil is Brazil. We might not see the great Brazil of
1982 conducted by the great Zico and Dr. Socrates under the direction of Tele Santana. It might not be the greatest Brazilian team ever
conducted by Pele, Didi, Vava or the 1986 Brazilian team eliminated by France of Michel Platini in a memorable quarter final match. But we
hope to see a Brazilian national team conducted by Rivaldo and hopefully accompanied by the phenomenon Ronaldo, and it could be worse
for the opponents if Scolari decide to align the RO-RI-RO Trio. If this is so, the trio, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Romario will be a lethal attack in this
World Cup.
It is quite good for Brazil not to be considered as a favorite, but make no mistake about it, The Brazilians somehow will find themselves in the
final four. If there’s a team that Argentina would not like to face, surely this team is Brazil. We all know that when the Brazilians face the
Argentines, it is a matter of who rule the American Continent. Now, they are 2-2 based on the last four derbies. Brazil is there to shine; may the
opponents get ready; otherwise the whole world might have to learn how to dance the Brazilian Samba. I can only hope that I won't be forced by
the die-hard Haitian-Brazilian fans to dance the Samba since my only objective is to dance the Tango this summer.
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