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Brazil is a microcosm of Latin American football, a region where this sport transcends its conventional connotation. Football is a way of life here, and Brazil knows best how to live it. The quintessential South American powerhouse, Brazil makes their way to Chile with renewed confidence.
A new coach has taken charge, several seasoned campaigners have passed the baton to a younger breed of players. There is a breath of fresh air among the Brazilian contingent, and for once it feels as if they’re not carrying the burden of a nation’s expectations, it seems they have nothing to prove. Freedom brings out the best in Brazil, and not just Brazilians, but the entire world would be hoping to see the Samba do its magic.
Squad
Brazilian football fans would be watching an extensively remodelled team in action during the tournament. Since taking over as head coach, Dunga has brought in several new and young players into the fold as many seasoned campaigners have bore the brunt of this transformation of sorts.
Dani Alves, Oscar and Hulk are the most notable names missing from the squad list while ‘keeper Diego Alves (Valencia), left-back Marcelo (Real Madrid) and Luis Gustavo (Wolfsburg) miss out due to injury.
A good individual season with Liverpool has meant that Coutinho will be playing in his first major competition in the national colors. Hoffenheim striker Firmino too makes the cut while for Robinho, life comes a full cycle as his long hiatus from the national team was triggered by a poor showing in the last edition of the Copa America in 2011.
Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio), Neto (Fiorentina)Defenders: Fabinho (Monaco), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), Danilo (Porto), David Luiz (PSG), Marquinhos (PSG), Thiago Silva (PSG), Miranda (Atletico de Madrid)Midfielders: Elias (Corinthians), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Casemiro (Porto), Willian (Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Everton Ribeiro (Al-Ahli), Douglas Costa (Shakhtar Donetsk), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk)Forwards: Neymar (Barcelona), Robinho (Santos), Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim), Diego Tardelli (Shandong Luneng)
Coach
The much celebrated and venerated former player, regarded as one of the best Brazilian midfielders of all time, took over from Luis Felipe Scolari after Brazil’s heartbreaking loss to Germany in the World Cup semi-final last year.
In his previous stint as the head coach of the national team (from 2006-10), Dunga redefined how Brazil played their football, as he sought to imbibe modern tactical nuances into Brazil’s free-flowing and often defensively indifferent way of football. He was quite a success, winning the Copa America in 2007 as Brazil upset Argentina in the final. He also guided Brazil to their 2009 Confederations Cup triumph, but a below-performance at the 2010 World Cup led to his sacking.
His critics pointed to his rigid tactical system which was strangulating Brazil’s inherent attacking and expressive brand of football while his proponents felt his pragmatic way of functioning was the only way forward for Brazilian football. Chile 2015 will be the perfect platform for Dunga to once again prove his worth and show the output of the effort that has gone into the evolution of his team since that nightmarish semi-final in Belo Horizonte a year ago.
Best Starting XI
(4-2-2-2 fomation)
Goalkeeper: Jefferson
Defenders: Danilo, Miranda, David Luiz, Filipe Luis
Midfielders: Fernandinho, Elias; Willian, Coutinho
Forwards: Roberto Firmino, Neymar
Formation and Tactics
Dunga’s preferred formation is a 4-2-2-2 with a modern ‘False 9’ in the form of Roberto Firmino or Diego Tardelli. It’ll be a close fight between the duo for a starting spot, as both have performed well in Brazil’s recent friendlies. Neymar is a sure-shot starter and will be hoping to take his splendid club form to Chile.
Coutinho and Willian have been Dunga’s go-to men on the wings, as Brazil will count on their flair and creativity to work up some magic. Fernandinho, who had been reduced to a spot on the bench behind Luis Gustavo and Elias, benefits from the late withdrawal of Gustavo due to injury.
Dunga is not considered as the typical Brazilian coach, as his defensive pragmatism and focus on counterattacks has often undermined Brazil’s traditionally expansive and attacking brand of football.
And he’s been quick to establish a sense of stability in his back-four since taking over, with Danilo, Miranda, David Luiz and Filipe Luis being his first-choice personnel. Thiago Silva, who captained Brazil at last year’s FIFA World Cup, might be looking at a spell on the bench in Chile.
As far as the tactics are concerned, the 4-2-2-2 formation fluidly transforms into a more traditional 4-2-3-1 when not in possession, as the false 9 drops back into midfield to draw the centre-backs in and disturb the opposition’s defensive positioning.
History at Copa America
Brazil, for all their supremacy in world football, always fell short when it came to the Copa America (or the erstwhile South American Championship). But that was until 1997. Back then, this competition was a biennial affair. A glorious run that started in Bolivia ’97 saw Brazil win four titles in a space of a decade, the last of which came in Venezuela in 2007, when they beat Argentina 3-0, under the tutelage of Dunga.
Brazil had won as many titles before 1997 as they did after. They’ve won 8 titles and have appeared in 19 finals altogether. Incidentally, the last time Chile hosted the tournament, Argentina lifted the trophy after beating Brazil by a solitary point in the final round robin stage.
| Year | Result (in Copa America) |
| Third place | |
| Third place | |
| Runners-up | |
| Group stage | |
| Champions | |
| Runners-up | |
| Quarter-finals | |
| Runners-up | |
| Champions | |
| Champions | |
| Quarter-finals | |
| Champions | |
| Champions | |
| Quarter-finals | |
| Total | 5 titles |
Predictions
With their Group B consisting of Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, Brazil are expected to top the charts. The Falcao-led Colombia seems like the only team which has the potential to upstage them, if at all.
Football fans all over the world would be hoping for an Argentina-Brazil clash in the final and Brazil certainly have it in them to make it to the final game. But beating Argentina could prove to be a task, especially given Messi’s blistering form and the relative lack of big-match experience in the Brazilian line-up.
Final prediction: Brazil will finish as runner-up at the Copa America 2015.
