Recovering Brazil are favourites with everything to prove
Tite’s side wants to put the 2014 semi-final defeat behind it and regain its past glory
By : migrator
Update: 2018-06-05 14:22 GMT
Few national teams have experienced the ups and downs of Brazil over the last five years but the good news for fans of Brazil is that it is ascendant as Russia approaches.
Brazil won the 2013 Confederations Cup, hammering an all-conquering Spain side 3-0 in the final. A year later it was humiliated 7-1 at home by Germany in the World Cup semi-finals and early exits at the Copa America in 2015 and 2016 deepened the gloom. But the improvement since Tite took over as coach in June 2016 has been remarkable and Brazil is now joint favourite to win a record sixth World Cup.
Much of that credit goes to the wily coach, who has instilled a sense of purpose in a team that looked lost under his predecessor Dunga. Tite has retained Neymar, Marcelo, Fernandinho, Thiago Silva, Willian and Paulinho from the 2014 World Cup.
The central defence has been shored up with Marquinhos and Miranda, and Brazil under Tite has conceded just five goals in 19 games. The midfield has a balance of solid and creative, with Casemiro providing the backbone, Paulinho capable of going box-to-box, and Renato Augusto offering some spark.
Up front Tite has an embarrassment of riches, with Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Philippe Coutinho the likely starters with able back-up on the bench from speedy wingers Willian and Douglas Costa. Those players helped Brazil to become the first team to qualify for Russia with a record string of nine successive wins, but it must take care to rein in any euphoria.
Brazil has historically done better at World Cups when it flies off hated rather than feted by its own press and fans. In 1970, 1994 and 2002, the selected left home under a cloud only to silence its doubters and lift the cup.
In 1982 and 2006 it was the opposite, as teams headed to Europe expecting to canter to victory. Tite is nothing if not pragmatic and he has worked overtime to ensure his players are focused on the task at hand. On the field his work has been exemplary, as 15 wins in 19 games prove. How he prepares it off it may be almost as important.
FIFA ranking: 2
Previous tournaments: Brazil is the only country to appear in every World Cup and the only nation to win the trophy five times. After losing at home in the final match in 1950, it won back-to-back titles in 1958 and 1962 and then made it three in Mexico in 1970 with what many consider to be the greatest team of all time. After a 24-year drought, it won again in 1994 with Romario and Bebeto starring. A rejuvenated Ronaldo, back from a series of knee injuries, helped them win the title in Japan in 2002 but it has disappointed since.
Form guide: Brazil’s form going to Russia could hardly be bettered. Since Tite took over as coach in mid-2016 it has lost once in 19 games, in a friendly against Argentina in Australia. The key to its form is at the back. It has conceded just five goals in those 19 games.
Prospects: This tournament is an unusual one for Brazil, which will arrive as joint favourite and as a side that need to prove itself all over again after its disastrous 7-1 loss to Germany in the 2014 semi-finals. It should sail through Group E against Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia but, with little experience playing competitively against top European sides, a question mark still exists. One mouth-watering prospect could come as early as the last 16. If Brazil or Germany qualify in second place from their groups, the two heavyweights will slug it out much earlier than they would like.
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