News, analysis, history, and discussion on all things Verde-Amarela

Category: Uncategorized (Page 3 of 13)

Match Preview: Brazil vs. Croatia (World Cup Quarterfinal)

Now that might have been the spark we needed.

After the loss to Cameroon, I wrote that I expected Brazil to still look tepid in their round of 16 match against South Korea, and that the big, palate-cleansing win we were all hoping for seemed like a distinct improbability. Instead, on the back of a barnstorming first half, we cruised to a 4-1 win with a joyfulness we haven’t often seen from Brazil, especially in World Cup play, for quite some time.

Continue reading

Match Preview: Brazil vs. South Korea (World Cup Round of 16)

With advancement to the Round of 16 secured after two games, Tite sent out the B team to play Cameroon, and they almost, but not quite, threw away our first-place finish in the group. Black Matt popped up to write a wonderful breakdown of that and the entire group stage, and you should definitely read his much-more-detailed thoughts on the matter, but for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts:

Continue reading

Thoughts on the Group Stage

One of my favorite shows of the last five years is called The Good Place. One of the main characters in the show is a philosophy professor named Chidi Anagonye. Chidi is a good man, and a very intelligent one, but he has one fatal defect: The inability to make a decision. Due in part to his own self-awareness, he is constantly in a state of mental turmoil, questioning not just his own actions, but the thoughts behind them, wondering what biases they may be the result of. In one scene, the show flashes back to when he was a kid, tasked with picking his team for a schoolyard football game. It’s an exercise in frustration — Chidi can’t pick a single teammate.

Continue reading

Match Preview: Brazil vs. Cameroon

Casemiro is a fucking king. Brief thoughts on our 1-0 win over Switzerland:

  • I kind of doubted that Neymar’s absence would be a huge detriment, but it obviously was. As Black Matt pointed out in the comments, I should have remembered that Neymar just sucks up so much attention that his mere presence opens up space for others, even if he’s not doing much himself.
  • I thought Tite made a pretty significant tactical blunder in taking Lucas Paquetá off for Rodrygo at halftime. The “screw the midfield” 4-2-4/4-1-5 has worked pretty well most of the times he’s tried it, but without creative passing to link the defense and the attack, it can get pretty staid. With Neymar injured and Paquetá off the pitch, it was up to Fred and Rodrygo to provide that impetus and they couldn’t, giving up the ball to Switzerland more often in the process. Things improved notably after Bruno Guimarães’ introduction for Fred some 15 minutes later, even though he didn’t have that great of a game. Tite gets some credit for recognizing his mistake quickly and making a new change to reestablish control of the game.
  • One yellow card through two games! And it’s to a player we’d probably all like to see play less! A massive improvement from our disciplinary record in past World Cups, which was already pretty good.

Brazil vs. Cameroon

Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail, December 2, 2022

Kickoff: 2:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM BRT / 7:00 PM GMT

US TV/Streaming: FOX / foxsports.com/live ; Telemundo / Peacock

Possible Starting Lineup: Ederson, Daniel Alves, Militão, Bremer, Alex Telles; Fabinho, Bruno Guimarães; Antony, Rodrygo, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.

Injury and Suspension Report: Neymar (ankle sprain + edema); Danilo (ankle sprain); Alex Sandro (hip). Several players (Neymar, Antony, Alisson, Vini Jr., Paquetá) have reportedly caught some sort of stomach bug that’s going around the group. FIFA protocols do not require that they test for COVID. Nobody is suspended.

Discipline Report: Fred has one yellow card.

Notes And Storylines

Continue reading

Brazil: A World Cup Preview (+ Brazil vs. Serbia Match thread)

I meant to have some post up sooner than now.

We’re now less than a week three days away from Brazil’s first game at the World Cup, when those of us based in the US will be faced with the hard choice between celebrating Thanksgiving and watching the Seleção take on Serbia. In my head, I wanted to have already written a post responding to Tite’s final squad selection and use this as more of a preview / “what are our chances?” post ahead of that game. Unfortunately, I moved last week, and that kind of took up most of my time.

Anyways, here’s Brazil’s squad for the World Cup. It is still—knock on fucking wood—unchanged since Tite announced it on November 7th. While other teams are seeing star players drop like flies, thus far (keeps pounding on wood) nobody in this actually quite good squad has yet been cut due to injury:

GOALKEEPERS

Alisson – Liverpool (ENG)

Ederson – Manchester City (ENG)

Weverton – Palmeiras (BRA)

FULLBACKS

Alex Sandro – Juventus (ITA)

Alex Telles – Sevilla (ESP)

Dani Alves – Pumas (MEX)

Danilo – Juventus (ITA)

CENTER-BACKS

Bremer – Juventus (ITA)

Éder Militão – Real Madrid (ESP)

Marquinhos – Paris Saint Germain (FRA)

Thiago Silva – Chelsea (ENG)

MIDFIELDERS

Bruno Guimarães – Newcastle (ENG)

Casemiro – Manchester United (ENG)

Everton Ribeiro – Flamengo (BRA)

Fabinho – Liverpool (ENG)

Fred – Manchester United (ENG)

Lucas Paquetá – West Ham United (ING)

FORWARDS

Antony – Manchester United (ENG)

Gabriel Jesus – Arsenal (ENG)

Gabriel Martinelli – Arsenal (ENG)

Neymar Jr. – Paris Saint Germain (FRA)

Pedro – Flamengo (BRA)

Raphinha – Barcelona (ESP)

Richarlison – Tottenham (ENG)

Rodrygo – Real Madrid (ESP)

Vinicius Jr. – Real Madrid (ESP)

Breaking Down The Squad

I wrote what was intended to be a separate post about how this squad compares to Brazil’s recent World Cup teams, much as I did before the 2018 World Cup, an article lost in that year’s infamous site crash. I’m going to start with that before talking about our path to the trophy.

So: is it a good list?

Continue reading

Match Preview: Brazil vs. Tunisia (Friendly)

Our last game before the World Cup is our second ever against Tunisia.

Brazil vs Tunisia

Parc Des Princes, Paris, France, September 27, 2022

Kickoff: 2:30 PM EDT / 3:30 PM BRT / 6:30 PM GMT

US TV/Streaming: FuboTV, BeinSports Connect 4

Starting Lineup: Alisson, Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Telles; Casemiro, Fred, Lucas Paquetá; Neymar, Richarlison, Raphinha.

On The Bench: Ederson, Weverton, Éder Militão, Ibañez, Bremer, Renan Lodi, Fabinho, Éverton Ribeiro, Bruno Guimarães, Antony, Firmino, Rodrygo, Vini Jr., Pedro, Matheus Cunha.

Notes and Storylines

Continue reading

Match Preview: Brazil vs. Ghana (Friendly)

Brazil’s penultimate game before the World Cup, and still so many questions to be answered.

Brazil vs Ghana

Stade Océane, Le Havre, France, September 23, 2022

Kickoff: 2:30 PM EDT / 3:30 PM BRT / 6:30 PM GMT

US TV/Streaming: FuboTV, BeinSports Connect 4

Starting Lineup: Alisson, Éder Militão, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Telles; Casemiro, Lucas Paquetá; Neymar, Vini Jr., Richarlison, Raphinha.

On The Bench: Ederson, Weverton, Danilo, Ibañez, Bremer, Renan Lodi, Fabinho, Éverton Ribeiro, Bruno Guimarães, Fred, Antony, Firmino, Rodrygo, Pedro, Matheus Cunha.

Continue reading

Making Sense Of Tite’s Last Callup Before The World Cup

(Well, hi y’all! Sorry for not posting anything for a while. I was planning to write a preview/prediction for this callup, but life got in the way, so I’m just doing this reaction post for now.)

Today, Tite called up the Brazil squad for our last round of friendlies before the World Cup in November—against Ghana on September 23 and against Tunisia on the 27th, both being played in France. And he chose an… interesting mix of 26 players, to say the least. Here they are:

Goalkeepers

  • Alisson – Liverpool
  • Ederson – Manchester City
  • Weverton – Palmeiras

Center-backs

  • Bremer – Juventus
  • Militão – Real Madrid
  • Marquinhos – PSG
  • Ibañez – Roma
  • Thiago Silva – Chelsea

Fullbacks

  • Danilo – Juventus
  • Alex Sandro – Juventus
  • Alex Telles – Sevilla

Midfielders

  • Bruno Guimarães – Newcastle
  • Casemiro – Manchester United
  • Everton Ribeiro – Flamengo
  • Fabinho – Liverpool
  • Fred – Manchester United
  • Paquetá – West Ham

Forwards

  • Antony – Manchester United
  • Firmino – Liverpool
  • Matheus Cunha – Atlético de Madrid
  • Neymar – PSG
  • Pedro – Flamengo
  • Raphinha – Barcelona
  • Richarlison – Tottenham
  • Rodrygo – Real Madrid
  • Vinicius Júnior – Real Madrid
Continue reading
« Older posts Newer posts »