Confed Cup champions Brazil have come of
age before I thought they would. Not because they beat Spain-because they could
have lost and still come of age-but how they represented themselves and the
discipline they showed. Make no mistake Spain is still my team and I still
think they will win the World Cup next year.
However, teams have found out the Achilles
heel of Spain; that diagonal pass behind the centre halves. Passing through
Spain is basically impossible based on the system they play, and Brazil did
well to stretch them out using the width of the pitch. Spain somehow has chosen
to not pay attention to that diagonal pass, because Holland came close to
beating them in the last World Cup with that very pass, but did not capitalize
on it; Arjen Robben got away twice.
Brazil showed character, poise and
obviously stuck to their game plan; use the width of the pitch and foul early
when they lose the ball. Before now, Brazil looked suspect in defence, but they
stepped up big time and man-handled Spain for almost the entire game. One
interesting statistic though was that Brazil had 8 shots on target, believe it
or not Spain had 7 (the penalty not have counted in that); however, Brazil
managed to convert 3 of them. And the statistics we have now gotten accustomed
to, Spain had the greater percentage of possession. Upon looking at the
statistics you actually realize that the match could have gone either way
despite Brazil’s 3 nil win. Why I mentioned that statistics is for the simple
fact that Barcelona played a match and had over 9 or 10 shots on target and the
opposing team had 2; the team beat Barcelona 2-1.
Spain did not play as bad as I hear most
fans say it, Brazil played very well and deserve to be Confed Champions. What I
was surprised at was the amount of wayward passes by Spain; which may have been
due to Brazil’s tenacity. Hindsight they say is better than 20-20 vision but I
would not have started Matta for Spain, he and Torres did not click all match;
and I would not have put them (Matta and Torres) out for the second half; the
team is much too deep for that. What can never be taken away from Brazil now is
the fact that they beat the #1 rank team in the World at its peak. I told an
ardent Brazil fan that his team was ranked 22nd coming into the
Confed Cup and he almost fainted; he thought they were in the top 5. Needless
to say they will make a big jump up the rankings.
Brazil has a well balanced team and Big
Phil has done wonders with this young team who are the future of Brazil football.
However, heavy is the head that wears the crown, they must win a World Cup to
be validated as a great Brazilian team; nothing else will suffice (that’s the
harsh reality). The 1982 Brazil team is always referred to as one of the
greatest team never to have won the World Cup; and we all remember the players
on that team. Brazil won the World Cup in 1994 and their fans are still not
satisfied in how they won (they beat Italy on penalties).
Spain has been validated already; they have
the best team for over 6-8 years now and the silverware to prove it. To get to
the next level this Brazil team must win a World title. I won’t count the
Confed Cup, this basically belongs to Brazil. Nonetheless, this is a good
Brazil team, balanced, effective, purposeful, strategic and most importantly,
scoring a lot of goals. Let’s see how things play out until 2014.
© 2013 Antonio Bell.
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Disclaimer
All the commentary
posted in this publication are my personal view(s) and do not reflect the
view(s) of any Association, Federation or Governing Body.
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