Coincidentally, the squads for Brazil’s two major tournaments this summer, the Women’s World Cup and the Copa América, were announced back-to-back, yesterday and today. Here they are:
Continue readingAuthor: Zetona (Page 14 of 15)
On Friday the 17th, Tite will announce Brazil’s squad for the Copa América in June. He is likely to announce a 23-man squad, rather than a larger group from which a few players will be cut, which leaves him with some tough decisions. I read, though I can’t find it now, that he intends to start his training camp on May 20th, to begin working with every player not involved in the Champions League final as soon as possible. That would give him nearly a month to work with the players before Brazil opens the tournament against Bolivia on June 14. That interval might have been a good opportunity to call up a larger group, in order to observe some new faces before making final cuts, but it seems that is not to be.
So Tite is left with a bunch of tough decisions. Many of his favorite players, including a lot of the World Cup veterans, have underperformed for Brazil over the past year, while several newcomers to the Seleção made instant impacts that will be difficult to ignore, even though they’ve only played in two or three games so far. With that in mind, I’m going to try and lay out what his options are at each position, giving a depth chart based on how likely I think he is to choose each of these players. Note that I’m only including players who I see as having some remote chance of being selected—so no Oscar, no Vanderlei, no Lyanco, etcetera.
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Brazil vs. Czech Republic
Sinobo Stadium, Prague, March 26, 2019
Kickoff: 3:45 PM EDT / 4:45 PM BRT / 7:45 PM GMT
US TV / Streaming: ESPN3
Starting Lineup: Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro; Casemiro (C), Allan, Lucas Paquetá; Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison.
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Normally I wouldn’t post a match preview so far ahead of the game, but seeing as Tite has already announced his starting lineup, I might as well.
Brazil vs. Panama
Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal, March 23, 2019
Kickoff: 1:00 PM EDT / 2:00 PM BRT / 5:00 PM GMT
US TV / Streaming: BeIN Sports (will only be shown live on TV on BeIN’s Spanish-language channel)
Starting Lineup: Ederson; Fagner, Éder Militão, Miranda, Alex Telles; Casemiro, Arthur, Lucas Paquetá; Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison.
Continue readingBrazil’s coach called up a really good squad—maybe the best of his entire tenure, considering the circumstances! Here’s the list of players who’ll be facing Panama and the Czech Republic at the end of March, directly from the CBF:
GOALKEEPERS
Alisson – Liverpool (ING)
Ederson – Manchester City (ING)
Weverton – Palmeiras
DEFENDERS
Daniel Alves – Paris Saint Germain (FRA)
Danilo – Manchester City (ENG)
Miranda -Inter de Milão (ITA)
Thiago Silva – Paris Saint Germain (FRA)
Marquinhos – Paris Saint Germain (FRA)
Éder Militão – Porto (POR)
Filipe Luís – Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Alex Sandro – Juventus (ITA)
MIDFIELDERS
Casemiro – Real Madrid (ESP)
Fabinho – Liverpool (ENG)
Allan – Napoli (ITA)
Felipe Anderson – West Ham United (ENG)
Lucas Paquetá – Milan (ITA)
Arthur – Barcelona (ESP)
Philippe Coutinho – Barcelona (ESP)
ATTACKERS
Everton – Grêmio
Roberto Firmino – Liverpool (ENG)
Gabriel Jesus – Manchester City (ENG)
Richarlison – Everton (ENG)
Vinicius Júnior – Real Madrid (ESP)
Here are some quick takeaways from this selection.
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On Thursday, February 28th, Tite will call up players for Brazil’s friendly games against Panama on March 23 and the Czech Republic on March 26. Ahead of that, here’s a status report on the players in contention for a spot:
Continue readingThe comments for the last post have been disabled for some reason, so here’s a new thread to use.
Happy New Year, everyone!
For not being a (men’s senior level) World Cup year, 2019 is shaping up to be as hectic as it gets in international football. If all goes well we can look forward to cheering on Brazilian teams in up to seven international tournaments over the course of the year, and in between we’ll have a wealth of club and friendly games, transfer sagas, and the beginning of 2022 World Cup qualifying (!) to look forward to.
Here are a few of the biggest Brazilian football stories to keep an eye on in 2019:
Continue readingYesterday, Grêmio and Atlético Paranaense played out a 0-0 draw in the Brazilian league.
So? Why does this warrant a whole article, Zetona?
To answer that, we have to keep in mind the current coaching situation in the Brazilian league.
Good coaching, let alone attack-oriented coaching, has been something of a rarity in Brazil recently, which owes to a whole number of factors: a large number of “big”, historically successful clubs compete for a small number of actual prizes and titles, which means fans often have unrealistic expectations for success; many clubs give fans opportunities to buy memberships and vote on management roles, which gives them a level of influence that, if they’re impatient or overly demanding, can pressure the management into rapid-fire coaching changes; the resultant culture means clubs move for proven quick-fix coaches instead of trying to implement long-term plans to grow and develop their football, which usually just means hiring Joel Santana for the fifth time; and the CBF’s coaching licenses aren’t valid in Europe, which keeps Brazilian coaches out of big-ticket jobs abroad.
Continue readingBrazil vs. Germany
Olympiastadion, Berlin, March 27, 2018
Kickoff: 2:45 PM EDT / 3:45 PM BRT / 6:45 PM GMT
US TV: None (the hell?); Streaming: WatchESPN
Starting Lineup: Alisson; Dani Alves (C), Thiago Silva, Miranda, Marcelo; Casemiro, Paulinho, Fernandinho; Willian, Gabriel Jesus, Coutinho.
Zetona’s Keys to the Game™:
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