FIFA Ranking: 3 Most Caps: Cafu 142 Most Goals: Pele 77/92 games Coach: Felipe Scolari Scolari has announced his squad. A very experienced one aside from the youth of Bernard and Neymar and one that is extremely pragmatic as befits Scolari's footballing philosophy. This being the ability to play on the break and one that will see active pressing high up the pitch from all the four forward orientated players with two sweepers infront of the back four. Like many managers currently pondering who they want in the campaign ahead Scolari has not been swayed by the form of several young Brazilians in Europe but has kept faith in the players that won the Confederations Cup last summer and who he believes will win again this summer. This has led to the exclusion of Coutinho, Marquinhos and the older duo from Atletico of Felipe Luis and Miranda. The selecao today is a far cry from the sides of the past with none of the subtle intricacies or flashy attractive football that has been non existent since 1994 indeed 1986. The myth of joga bonito has been just that over recent years with a side that is extremely well disciplined in handing out tactical fouls and a growing reliance in the domestic game on athletes in midfield than artists such as the late lamented Socrates (who no doubt would be an extremely fierce critic of the lavish spending on this event). While impressive in recent friendlies and at the Confederations Cup this side has not really been under the real extreme pressure they will be this summer, notwithstanding the promised strikes, marches and rallies from many Brazilians. Home advantage can work both ways and a poor start will heap pressure on the team in a group which is far from being a guaranteed passage to the next round. The defence again like many teams at this summer's event is rather vulnerable despite the presence of Thiago Silva and it is a mystery how Miranda and Felipe Luis who have been outstanding with Atletico have been omitted. Luis in particular when compared to Maicon who while still decent coming forward is an accident waiting to happen going the other way and whose positional play should be an avenue for other teams to focus their attacks should he feature. Croatia may well fancy their chances given their relative strength in midfield and Mexico despite their recent poorish form have been in recent years the selecao's bogey team, raising their game employing the same tactics Scolari currently uses against him. Julio Cesar is not the goalkeeper he was and mistakes by Galvao and Bagy in the Libertadores do not inspire confidence in the backups. Scolari will rely heavily on Luis Gustavo and Paulinho to protect his back four. Gustavo has had a solid season since leaving Munich popping up with the odd goal for Wolfsburg. The driving motivation for many of the players may well be a wish to avoid the events that unfolded in 1950, the so called Maracanazo, which prompted a wave of suicides and the vilification of the then incumbent goalkeeper Barbosa for three decades and left a scar that despite other World Cup triumphs has never healed namely winning the ultimate prize on home soil.Sadly former stalwarts Gilmar and Djalma Santos who could teach the current full/wingbacks a thing or two about the art of defence won't be there to watch it. Star player. For the focus of creativity and spark it has to be Neymar despite a disappointing latter half of the season, more probably a reflection of the muddle behind the scenes at Barcelona and possible friction within their squad. Fingers crossed he will also cut out his diving antics as well and let his football do the talking. While he and Hulk generally are played on the flanks looking to cut in as Brazil lack any genuine wingers he sometimes will play off the central striker if required while Oscar will occupy a free role behind. He and the fullbacks Marcelo and Alves will provide the ammunition for Neymar, Hulk and probably Fred. If they do progress one can expect Scolari to be more cautious with those fullbacks and play even more of a breaking up and counter system although the crowds expectations will be for Brazil to dominate, Scolari is not swayed by public opinion. [video=youtube;3in9BW7k9fg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3in9BW7k9fg[/video] National anthem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyyOahYXhUQ FIFA Team Profile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E_Lav_N-Ho
FIFA Ranking: 20 Most Caps: Claudio Suarez 178 Most Goals: Jared Borgetti 46/89 games Coach: Miguel Herrera El Tri almost never made it to Brazil scraping past Panama in the final phase of CONACAF qualification. Miguel Herrera replaced Luis Tena who had coached the u23 team to gold in London who in turn had replaced the hapless Jose de la Torre at times the most reviled in Mexico. Under the Club America coach the Mexicans waltzed past New Zealand and despite a poorish defence that still sees veteran Marquez at it's heart should pose real problems for their group opponents including the team they have the indian sign over Brazil. Herrera employs a back five which is very defensive relying on fast counters and the pace of Oribe Peralta to score goals alongside Javier Hernandez. The back five however often press high allowing both wingbacks to come forward when required these being Herrera's own charges at Club America, Miguel Layun and Francisco Rodriguez. While decent technically there is a lack of flair in the side aside from Gio do Santos who always plays better for the national side than his club. The surprising omission is Carlos Vela although he told Herrera he was not ready to play for the national side. Other promising youngsters like Barrera who plied his trade for a time at West Ham have also failed to deliver on their promise and decent enough results at age group level for Mexico.The star player given the failure to progress of Hernandez is Peralta who has been excellent in the Mexican League, Libertadores and in his international appearances. [video=youtube;Yq4Dd_FYq3c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq4Dd_FYq3c[/video] National anthem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8T9g7memUk FIFA Team Profile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK2CcP5rSNo
FIFA Ranking: 18 Most Caps: Darijo Srna 112 Most Goals: Davor Suker 69/45 games Coach: Niko Kovac Croatia are unlikely to repeat the success of their third place finish in 1998 without a truly top class striker and a defence that is likely to fall apart under pressure and with a rather average keeper in between the sticks. Their strength and the one that they hope will shield the defence and knock in a few goals is their midfield which is burgeoning with proven and upcoming talent. Qualification was a rather rough ride despite high aspirations of an automatic place the inadequacies of Igor Stimac saw Scotland turn the Croats over twice and Belgium sail to an automatic spot. Davor Suker aware of a growing unhappiness within the camp with the autocratic figure of Stimac brought in the u20 coach Niko Kovac another former team mate to guide Croatia to a hard fought 2-0 aggregate win in the playoffs. The arrival of Kovac has brought a lift not just in team spirit but performances on the pitch with Kovac more aware of the strengths and weaknesses of his side and preferring to play a more pleasing style on the eye. However he will be more than aware of the issues in defence and the great lack of pace which will mean the back four will sit quite deep. The loss of Josip Simunic and rightly so for his pro Nazi Ustase chants has forced Vedran Corluka into a pairing with Dejan Lovren. While the latter reads the game well and is comfortable on the ball and very strong aerially he does lack top class speed and in trying to cover spaces is prone to committing fouls and picking up cards. The same could be levelled at Corluka and the far less able Schildenfeld who will be the likely replacement should they fall foul of the referees. The right back spot however is well covered by the record caps holder Srna who with his pace and trickery and crossing ability is a great foil for someone like Mandzukic to rely on in and around the box. The same can be applied to Sime Vrsaljko a technically very sound pacy right back who loves to come forward. The other flank is far more problematic and should Pranjic be injured there is no obvious replacement in the side given that Ivan Strinic was left out due to injury. Pranjic also has lost speed and is not the player he once was. Fans of the Vatreni will be disappointed therefore that Hrovje Milic was left out given that he can cover that spot and the left side of midfield and has had a very good season with Rostov. Croatia's formidable asset is it's midfielders. Kovac however will not play with a defensive midfielder whose only ability is to break up play and this is a reflection of the modern game. Players need to be capable in several roles. Thus Vukojevic is likely to remain on the sidelines unless protecting a lead due to his lack of creativity from deep and limited passing abilities. Kovac will instead field two of the best midfielders in La Liga to do the job alongside a youngster of immense promise in Mateo Kovacic. Kovacic is blessed with great dribbling ability, an eye for a pass and explosive speed and plays deep at Internazionale and showed his abilities late on in the serie A season when Internazionale thumped Chievo in Javier Zanetti's last ever match. Under Stimac he was xpected to play the regista role defending his back four while simultaneously launching attacks from deep. His lack of experience and physicality were entirely unsuited to these demands. Kovac instead as against Iceland moved him to the apex of the attacking midfield where the qualities mentioned previously should reap free kicks and rewards. The defensive role was instead assigned to Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic. For all their attacking attributes both are quite capable of getting stuck in and are very energetic in getting all over the midfield. Modric will be expected almost like an Argentine enganche to dictate the tempo of matches with his short passing and possession of the ball looking for openings while Rakitic is expected to play more of a box to box role given his stamina and ability for the through ball. However the talented trio can all freely interchange to confuse their opponents. In the game against Brazil Kovac may well play Kovacic wide to counter the Brazilian wingbacks and avoid a repetition of the 1-0 defeat suffered in the group stages in the 2006 tournament. And in all the games one form of defence is expected to be retention of the ball. Two future stars of the Croatian midfield Mario Pasalic and Alen Halilovic were too young for Kovac to consider (although many were disappointed to retain the Brazilian Jorge Campos aka Sammir instead of Pasalic) but he has brought in a couple of the u20 players he has worked with as reserves. One is the creative and technically very sound Marcelo Brozovic who will be moving on this summer from Dinamo Zagreb and the box to box Ivan Mocinic who has had an excellent season with Rijeka moving ahead of his team mate in the same position and same club Mate Males in the selection. Both are there for the experience but should fill in capably if they are needed. Like all the other Croat players they are very comfortable on the ball and Mocinic belies his age with ample tenacity and grit. Upfront the Vatreni will rely heavily on Mandzukic and his ability to win aerial balls and in the channels using his strength to bring the midfield into play and create chances by pulling opposition centrebacks out wide. Mandzukic works extremely hard and forms an effective first line of defence and often helps out defensively at set pieces. He will however miss the game against Brazil due to a red card picked up against Iceland in the playoff second leg. His deputy has fallen from grace in the last couple of seasons and while similar in some respects lacks the finesse and sheer presence of Mario. This is Nikica Jelavic who seems to have experienced the Torres syndrome for the last season or so. To complement these heavyweights Kovac could if needed play off them two small nippy strikers who are also comfortable out wide in Ivica Olic on the left and Eduardo on the right although at present Ivan Perisic is the favoured choice. Both players have had resurgents seasons for Wolfsburg and Donetsk respectively and form a potent threat with Srna and Pranjic in creating overlaps. Olic's reserve so to speak is another youngster Ante Rebic who squeaked in at the death after a less than stellar season at Fiorentina. Being right footed unlike Olic may restrict and block someone like Kovacic at times but he is normally a centre forward who can play deeper and his utility value won him a ticket to Brazil. Croatia can play some wonderful flowing football especially if they are allowed to settle. They have a potent goalscorer and players who can provide the requisite supply as well as being very dangerous set pieces. However their defence is far from top notch and cumbersome and a real Achilles heel. Given the problems and lack of quality in the midfields of Cameroon and Mexico they should have enough to progress into the round of 16. And they certainly could upset Brazil even without Mandzukic given the pride they have in their chessboard shirts. Star player ? Srna, Mandzukic despite a poorer return this year with Bayern (more to do with a change in tactics), young Kovacic are all well worth keeping an eye on but Rakitic and Modric have been streets ahead this season and a pleasure to watch. And yet more evidence of the growing trend you do not need be a gigantic donkey to succeed at the highest level. [video=youtube;75Y6nutnO_Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Y6nutnO_Y[/video] Rakitic 2013/14: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp3N5laiI3w National Anthem [video=youtube;tjqgLZ7fZY4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjqgLZ7fZY4[/video] FIFA Team Profile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_0Yz0-nrSQ
No wonder they're rioting in Brazil due to lack of money, they've obviously spent it on the ref. woeful decisions.
Croatia looked pretty decent overall, quite impressed with them (bar the poor keeping for goal 3). Referee was bloody atrocious though! Brazil looked quite ordinary by their usual standards, but I expect they'll improve as the tournament goes on.
Whether or not fifa had anything to do with it, they couldn't afford for Brazil to not win that game.
Think Brazils name is on cup ! Croatia were great ! They must be gutted ! Hope they qualify ! Honest hard working team that gave everything !
Mexico are getting utterly robbed at the moment. Ridiculous refereeing - even Championship refs are better than this!
What club does this Ochoa play for? EDIT: Just looked him up, he's currently a free agent, but has spent last 3 years in France with a club called Ajaccio? I've never heard of them, but apparently he would prefer to remain in France
I think they said Marseille were the favourites... Still feel Brazil will come to life at some point.
Ajaccio were in Ligue 1 until this season, that's why he's left - he also wants to join a team in the Champions League.
I so hope Cameroon gives a shocking defeat to Brazil! Few chances I'm afraid. Neymar is on fire tonight. But Brazil seems a one-man-team with a very slow defence and attackers not returning to help. With a lot of luck, if Cameroon continues to play this way and if Neymar stops creating goals right in the worst moments of his team ... maybe ...
Well, Croatia put up a good fight, but Mexico exploded them in the end. Interesting match, even for an inveterate Mexico hater like me. I'm beginning to believe in them, after their catastrophic qualifying run that required the USA to put them into Brazil had me thinking they'd be the embarrassment of CONCACAF. Their odd looking coach, nicknamed "Lice" or Piojo en espanol, has got them doing things like practicing set plays and generally working to their strengths. They are believing in themselves and that's a powerful feeling about this time in the tournament. If all goes well, the USA beats them 2-0 in the final for ultimate CONCACAF bragging rights.
Allegations that some of the Cameroon players were involved in some sort of match fixing for one of their games... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28102841
Assou-Ekotto has admitted he's only in football for the money, surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to then go and be a part of a match fixing incident?
