Struggling Brazil need Confed Cup boost

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) –

Neymar (left) and Luis Felipe Scolari during a training session in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais last month. Brazil line-up for next month’s Confederations Cup fully conscious that victory is paramount if they are to go on and secure a sixth World Cup in front of their fanatical home supporters in 2014.

Brazil line-up for next month’s Confederations Cup fully conscious that victory is paramount if they are to go on and secure a sixth World Cup in front of their fanatical home supporters in 2014.

Six decades on, the kingdom of Pele still hurts from missing out to Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium for the 1950 World Cup title — an entire generation of players will suffer similar heartache if they fail to lift the Jules Rimet trophy next year.

The Confederations Cup, which runs from June 15-30, will prove no walk in the park for the South American superpower who for once will not be lumbered with their habitual tag of favourites.

After living off a diet of friendlies for the past three years, they must use this return to official competition to restore confidence and to regain the trust of their fans who booed the selecao after a lacklustre 2-2 draw against Chile on their last run-out on April 24.

Neymar plays for Santos FC against Corinthians, at Pacaembu stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sunday. Brazil’s hopes of fresh Confederations Cup glory rest with Neymar, the talented 21-year-old striker who has shone for his club Santos, less so for his country and who is angling for a move to either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

To prevail next month, Brazil will first have to extricate themselves from a first-round group featuring Italy, Mexico and Japan, before a likely match-up with world and double European champions Spain.

The burning question posed by fans since Brazil’s premature exit from the 2010 World Cup and their subsequent alarming slide down FIFA’s world rankings is which system of play and which players Luiz Felipe Scolari will employ.

As Brazil have searched for the balance between the demands of modern day football and the “beautiful game” mastered by Pele, Zico and Romario, they have plummeted from sixth to a worst-ever 19th place in world football’s pecking order.

The present crisis prompted the Brazilian Football Federation to pluck from the past Scolari, the man who guided the Brazil of Ronaldo and Bebeto to the 2002 World Cup title in his first stint as manager after a chaotic qualifying campaign.

Brazil’s hopes of fresh glory also rest with Neymar, the talented 21-year-old striker who has shone for his club Santos, less so for his country and who is angling for a move to either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Luiz Felipe Scolari (left) with Ronaldinho Gaucho (centre) and Neymar at a training session in Belo Horizonte last month. Scolari guided the Brazil of Ronaldo and Bebeto to the 2002 World Cup title in his first stint as manager after a chaotic qualifying campaign.

Yet six months after his return, Scolari’s Brazil have failed to impress, with a 2-1 loss to England, three stalemates against Italy (2-2), Russia (1-1) and Chile (2-2), and only one win — a 4-0 rout of modest Bolivia.

According to Brazilian football commentator Marcos Guterman, the omens for a sixth world title are hardly encouraging.

“Brazil are playing way below the level of any of the other top teams like Spain and Germany.

“They lack a system of play capable of getting results,” said the author of the book “Football Explains Brazil: A Story of the Biggest Popular Expression of the Country”.

Kaka (centre) takes a shot for Real Madrid against Valladolid at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid on May 4. Questions remain whether Luis Felipe Scolari will call up veterans like Ronaldinho, back on better terms with himself since his return home after an unsatisfactory end to his European stay at AC Milan or Real Madrid’s super-sub striker, Kaka.

“We need a miracle to win the (Confed) Cup in June,” he suggested gloomily.

In contrast, Ronaldo is convinced that Scolari will silence sceptics from taxi drivers to lawyers who no longer believe in their national team.

Former Brazilian legends appear to have lost their nerve too, with Pele and Romario reduced to exchanging insults on Twitter.

Scolari has offered only half a dozen names of players certain to be in his 2014 World Cup squad — Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Daniel Alves, Julio Cesar, Fred and Neymar.

For the rest questions remain whether he will call up veterans like Ronaldinho, back on better terms with himself since his return home after an unsatisfactory end to his European stay at AC Milan or Real Madrid’s super-sub striker, Kaka.

Brazil open the tournament against Japan on June 15, with Mexico next four days later and Italy concluding their Group A schedule on June 22.