Insofar as support is concerned, this corner of the web has two hearts that beat blindly. One is coloured black and white and the other, more fanatic one, is coloured green and gold. We held back from commenting the early forays of the seleção especially since we rarely believe that the first three matches of a WC offer any verdict other than IN or OUT.
Dunga’s Brasil are light years away from offering the “jogo bonito” that he tough Brasilian supporters expect year in year out. I too have given up on really “watching Brasil play”. Instead we are regaled with fiammate of genius interspersed with solid, pragmatic displays that take the best of what football has to offer with a very pragmatic perspective. Dunga’s Brasil would take a 1-0 victory home any day but time and time again it has offered unexpected goleadas even when the usual suspects where not around.
Forget O Fabuloso and Robinho (who has a magnificent track record vs Chile – 5 games/6 goals) – the man to watch is Juventus’ Felipe Melo. It has become more and more evident that he is the metronome of the team. His presence as a dam infront of the defence allows Kaka and the forwards to weave their magic one-twos and bursts. Melo and Dunga are like man and God… the former has been formed in the shape of the latter and that is probably why the Brasil coach has so much faith in the much maligned Felipe Melo.
Melo plays with a swollen ankle tonight. He has been Brasil’s Dr Jekyll to Juve’s Mr Hyde. Juve fans watched him in desperation as they hoped he would justify his 25 million tag only to be disappointed time and time again. In the first few matches with the seleção he has become an insurmountable figure on which the goal machine falls back when the going gets tough (true there is the not too ignorable presence of Lucio and Juan behind him).
Will Melo & Co overcome Chile with the same ease as the last eight encounters against los Riojas? It remains to be seen. Brasil are normally at their most worrying when they enter a match that seems to be a foregone conclusion. Also it remains to be seen how many Brasililan feet will get kicked about by a desperate second choice Chilean defence. Fingers crossed and lets hope that the ghosts of 1950 and 1982 – when Brasil was meant to be the inevitable victor – do not return to haunt Dunga’s braves.
Go Brazil!
***
UPDATE
So they won. Melo did not play in the end but Ramires replaced him well enough. The early forays into Brasilian territory where not enough for Bielsa’s plucky XI and Brasil built their victory with bloks of European cynicism coupled with moments of individual flair and strokes of magic. Kaka is slowly filling in the shoes of unsung maestro of this team distributing the passes with nonchalant tempo.
Hats off to Chile though. Like the Americans before them, they had the neutrals thrilled with their pluckiness, their enthusiasm and their unwillingness to play to some unwritten script. Well done Chile and it really is a pity that the knock-out round had to come about at some point. We cross our fingers as we wait for the Oranje next Friday.
