Opinion – Renata Mendonça: Brazil can dream of a sixth in Qatar and a semifinal in Australia

The World Cup is coming, and with it, anxiety begins to hit. By the way, the World Cups are coming. Because if Qatar’s is just over there, less than a month from now, Australia and New Zealand’s starts in less than a year. And, for the first time, Brazil is having the opportunity to look forward to both.

We always followed all the details in anticipation of the men’s World Cup. From the Qualifiers to the group draw. And we got used to following all the steps of the men’s team, the friendlies, the call-ups and their contradictions, the criticism and praise of the coach. Until, with little time left for the kick-off, the conversation inevitably arises at the bar table with that classic: “What about the selection, huh? Will the hexa come?”.

I would say it has chances to come. The coach of the Brazilian team at the moment is the best in the role in activity in Brazil and has in his hands a team with individual talents that today play collectively. And it has variations that allow you to bet on different solutions to the difficulties that the games will present. The World Cup is an unpredictable competition, but the better you prepare for it, the better chance you have of winning. Brazil is ready.

Thinking about the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the scenario is different. And, for the first time, we’re getting the chance to follow him more closely. In previous cycles, the women’s team was prepared without us knowing. There was no broadcast of the friendlies on open TV, nor of the qualifying tournament (the Copa América), much less coverage of the group draw.

Looking at everything up close now, we are more critical. Sometimes exaggeratedly critical, projecting to the women’s team what we expect from the men’s (always winning, dreaming of titles). But the context is different – ​​and this is perhaps still unknown to most.

The men’s team is always pointed out as a favorite in any tournament that plays in men’s football. The tradition of five stars won since 1958 helped to build this. On the other hand, the women’s team is also highly respected around the world. But it doesn’t have the same tradition of conquests. Even because it depended exclusively on talent when there was not the least incentive and the fight was not for titles, it was simply for the right to play.

We were not seeded in the draw held on Saturday – broadcast on open and closed TV –, we are in the ninth position in the FIFA ranking and, currently, we are the weakest side in any dispute against the main European teams or against the United States ( four-time champions of the Women’s Cup). The zebra, so to speak.

But, in Group F of the 2023 World Cup, Brazil is favorite to qualify – only in second place in the group. The strongest team is France. Normal would be for the Brazilian team to lose to them (we never beat the French) and possibly catch Germany in the round of 16. Therefore, it is likely that, for the third consecutive Cup, we will stop at this stage.

Only there is hope. For the first time too, there is a more serious and consistent work ahead of the women’s team, with a coach who is a two-time Olympic champion and a reference in women’s football. Pia Sundhage leads the renovation that should have started at least a decade ago. And, with it, Brazil is not the favorite, but it can dream of the semifinals of the World Cup.

Beating France (difficult, but far from impossible), the selection takes a more feasible path and could reach the semifinals again after 16 years – last time, we arrived against the USA, thrashed and lost to Germany to take the vice in 2007. The difference is that now we have real prospects of winning a title in the near future.

Bring on the Cups!