Football is sometimes contradictory. As much as we value the performance of teams, the result is the lever, the reference, in the analysis of the game. The high-quality spectacle is a consequence of well-played football. It’s not the premise. When a team wins, everything is exalted, even the mistakes. When it loses, the club is criticized, even its virtues.
On the other hand, some results occur due to unexpected details. Atlético, Flamengo and Palmeiras, the three best Brazilian teams, play balanced games between them. The victory sometimes happens in surprising moments, as in the penalty missed by Hulk and in the mistakes of defender Nathan Silva, from Atlético, and Andreas Pereira, from Flamengo, in the conquest of the last Libertadores by Palmeiras. None of this diminishes the individual and collective quality and professional seriousness of Palmeiras. For very little, you win and you lose. Football is the portrait of life.
Another determining factor in evaluations is expectations, which often do not match reality. Palmeiras, Atlético and Flamengo are on the same level. However, the demand and expectation in relation to Flamengo are greater, because of the exuberance of football shown in 2019, even more so since the squad is practically the same. Flamengo won the 2020 Brasileirão, and coach Rogério Ceni was fired.
The expectation with the Brazilian team is huge, to always be champion and to enchant, because of the past and the much talked about football-art, even considering the 7 to 1, the last 20 years without winning a World Cup and the absence, in the last decade, of a superstar, with the exception of Neymar, of the level of the best in the world.
Brazil, in the 4-0 victory over Chile, said goodbye to Maracanã and Brazilian stadiums until the Qatar Cup. It reminds me of 1970, when the team beat Austria 1-0, also at the Maracanã, before traveling to Mexico. The fans applauded the Brazilian team. For the first time, I was selected as a starter by Zagallo.
Before the match against Chile, the great expectation was the lineup of Neymar further ahead, forming a pair with Paquetá. Brazil had a great performance. Neymar, who plays in the number 10, was neither the 9 nor the false 9. He was an attacker, closer to the goal, “with creative freedom”, as Tite said. Characterizing a player by shirt number and position was already outdated in the 1970s.
One of the reasons for Neymar’s technical downfall, after leaving Barcelona, was wanting to be the owner of the team, the builder and scorer, the bow and arrow. He retreated too far to receive the ball in midfield, too far from the other goal. Against Chile, on the contrary, he dribbled, passed and finished close to the opponent’s area.
The presence of two dribbler wingers, fast and open, widen the field and increase the spaces in the center. Paquetá lacked playing closer to Neymar and alternating positioning with him. Obviously, it will be important to have a classic striker as an option.
I’m just afraid that, against strong opponents, who prioritize the exchange of passes and control of the ball in midfield, Brazil, with open ends and a great distance between the two midfielders (Casemiro and Fred) and the two forwards, will leave many spaces in the sector.
In the last year, because of the rise of Paquetá and quick and skillful wingers, such as Vinicius Junior, Raphinha and Antony, the quality has improved and Brazil’s hopes and expectations in the Cup have increased.
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