Willian could be Brazil’s wild card at the 2014 World Cup – Former Pune FC striker Edmar Figueira

Edmar (no.9)

Very rarely we see I-League foreigners to go on and later play in Europe but Brazilian Edmar Figueira is an exception. Edmar joined Pune FC in 2009, scoring 15 goals in his debut I-League campaign, and spent two seasons at the club. After that he plied his trade in the top tier of Romania.

After stints in Germany and Syria, Edmar returned to India last season to play for newly-promoted Rangdajied United and had a brief spell with the Shillong club. The 30-year-old is currently looking for a club and is keen on having another stint in India but for now he is eagerly waiting for the start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in his homeland.

Edmar first watched the World Cup during the 1994 edition and has happy memories of Brazil being crowned world champions after more than two decades. His favourite World Cup memory though comes from 2002 when Ronaldinho and Ronaldo starred for the Selecao.

Many fans in India have questioned Luiz Felipe Scolari’s decision to not include Ronaldinho in the squad but Edmar believes the 2002 World Cup winning coach was right not to call up the former Barcelona star and even AC Milan’s Kaka.

“I think you must call the ones who are playing better at present. We have lot of quality young players and they have shown their qualities while playing for their clubs and the national team during last year’s Confederations Cup, where they thrashed Spain in the final,” Edmar told Sportskeeda during an exclusive chat.

Edmar believes the eleven that started against Spain in last year’s Confederations Cup final will feature in the opening game against Croatia on Thursday and doesn’t believe the hosts will worry too much about facing Spain or Holland in the round of 16.

“For a team that wants to be the champion, you cannot think about avoiding anyone in the round of 16 and must take every opponent seriously,” he said.

Edmar, who was adjudged the players’ player of the year in his first season at Pune FC, also picked out the key players in the Brazil team.

“Oscar, Hulk and Fred will be important but I think Chelsea’s Willian can be a big surprise from the bench and play a crucial role,” he stated.

Besides Brazil, Edmar will keep a close eye on the fortunes of Spain and Germany but the forward is backing his home country to handle the pressure and go all the way and therefore he thinks two Brazilians will bag the individual accolades.

“I think we are the favourites and we showed during the Confederations Cup that we can handle the pressure. If all goes well for us I pick Neymar (Golden Ball) and Fred (Golden Boot) for the honours,” he concluded.