Once again, I’ve let my life get too busy and not left enough time to write up something proper for this week’s friendlies. In my defense, I’m not sure how many of us will be able to watch them legally, as I haven’t found any evidence that they’re actually going to be broadcast in the US.

Brazil vs. Guinea

Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, Barcelona, Spain, June 17, 2023

Kickoff: 3:30 PM EDT / 4:30 PM BRT / 7:30 PM GMT

Possible Starting XI: Alisson (Ederson), Danilo, Éder Militão, Marquinhos, Ayrton Lucas; Casemiro, Joelinton, Lucas Paquetá; Rodrygo, Vini Jr, Richarlison.

Brazil vs. Senegal

Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal, June 20, 2023

Kickoff: 3:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM BRT / 7:00 PM GMT

Notes and Storylines

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Well, crap. I’ve been busy with other things and left myself without enough time to compose a proper preview for Brazil’s U-20 World Cup campaign. And it’s a pretty big deal! Repeated screwups in the South American U-20 Championship, and a healthy dose of COVID cancellations, meant Brazil had only qualified for one U-20 World Cup in the past decade. For once, though, the youngsters won the South American tournament outright earlier this year to easily qualify for the big show.

Unfortunately, some big names will not be participating, as their clubs would not let them. In particular, Athletico-PR’s Vitor Roque, joint-top scorer in the Sul-Americano, and Pedrinho of Corinthians, who added two goals of his own, weren’t released by their clubs. This is to say nothing of Endrick, who Palmeiras kept from playing in the Sul-Americano in the first place, let alone the World Cup. Still, several of Brazil’s most exciting young stars did manage to get their club’s blessing, including the other joint-top scorer from the Sul-Americano, Andrey Santos. Here’s the squad:

Goalkeepers: Mycael (Athletico-PR), Kaíque (Palmeiras), Kauã Santos (Flamengo)

Defenders: Arthur (América-MG), Jean Pedroso (Coritiba), Robert Renan (Zenit St. Petersburg), Kaiki Bruno (Cruzeiro), André Dhominique (Bahia), Douglas Mendes (Red Bull Salzburg)

Midfielders: Andrey Santos (Vasco), Marlon Gomes (Vasco), Matheus Martins (Watford), Guilherme Biro (Corinthians), Ronald (Grêmio)

Forwards: Giovani (Palmeiras), Marcos Leonardo (Santos), Marquinhos (Norwich City), Giovane (Corinthians), Kevin (Palmeiras), Matheus Nascimento (Botafogo), Sávio (PSV)

It’s a pretty top-heavy squad, which concerns me a bit (only three center-backs and three fullbacks!), but even without several of our best young prospects, it’s a pretty talented one. Coach Ramon Menezes, though he didn’t do a great job as the caretaker manager for the senior Brazil team back in March, has done really well with the youngsters, and I expect that’ll continue here. (And he’s been here before—he was part of the squad that lost the 1991 U-20 World Cup final on penalties to Portugal.)

For all Brazil’s struggles in actually qualifying for this tournament, we’ve done very well whenever we actually appear in it. We’ve reached the final in our last three appearances: losing on penalties in 2009, to a 118th-minute winner in 2015, and winning it all in 2011. (I expect Argentina to bring some of this same energy: they didn’t even qualify for the tournament at first, but got a spot by becoming the new hosts of the tournament after FIFA stripped Indonesia of the rights. Watch ’em make it all the way to the final.)

Anyways, here’s our schedule for the group stage. This is a tough group, no doubt, but as this is a 24-team tournament, the four best third-place teams in the group stage go through to the knockout rounds.

As for TV broadcasts and streaming in the US at least: the whole tournament is being carried by FOX Sports and FuboTV. It sounds like every game will be available to stream on Fubo and most will be broadcast on FS2, with the remainder on the premium Fox Soccer Plus channel. Brazil’s first two games will be on FS2, with the game against Nigeria on FSP.

Brazil vs. Italy

Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, May 21, 2023

Kickoff: 5:00 PM EDT / 6:00 PM BRT / 9:00 PM GMT

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Brazil vs. Dominican Republic

Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, May 24, 2023

Kickoff: 5:00 PM EDT / 6:00 PM BRT / 9:00 PM GMT

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Brazil vs. Nigeria

Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona, La Plata, May 27, 2023

Kickoff: 2:00 PM EDT / 3:00 PM BRT / 6:00 PM GMT

Well then. After the Tite era ended in such, uh, infuriating fashion in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, Brazil is about to take to the field with its first new manager in charge since 2016. Tite was, for all his many faults, clearly the outstanding Brazilian coach of his time—which is maybe less a credit to him than an indictment of his competition—and lacking any obvious successor, the CBF has a choice between two unorthodox options: either they hand the Seleção over to a fresh but unproven Brazilian manager and hope that his new ideas and skillset can overcome his lack of experience in the global game à la Lionel Scaloni for Argentina; or they bite the bullet, acknowledge that there is no Brazilian manager who has proven himself at the highest levels of the game, and hire a foreign coach for the first time in Brazil’s history.

Right now, they seem to be splitting the difference. Leading the team in Saturday’s game against Morocco is Ramon Menezes, a man who, before he led the under-20 side to victory in the South American Youth Championship last month, had achieved little distinction as a coach. But it seems very likely that he will be nothing more than a stopgap option, as rumors have Carlo Ancelotti leaving Real Madrid to take the job in the summer. Except that may not be finalized yet and the CBF may still be keeping tabs on the likes of Jorge Jesus, José Mourinho (ugh), and even some Brazilian coaches like Fernando Diniz.

For now, though, Ramon has the reins. What did he do with them? Well, he kind of made the case for avoiding another Brazilian coach:

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Ederson (Manchester City), Mycael (Athletico-PR), Weverton (Palmeiras).

Full-backs: Arthur (América-MG), Emerson Royal (Tottenham), Alex Telles (Sevilla), Renan Lodi (Nottingham Forest).

Center-backs: Ibañez (Roma), Éder Militão (Real Madrid), Bremer (Juventus), Robert Renan (Zenit).

Midfielders: André (Fluminense), Andrey Santos (Vasco), Casemiro (Manchester United), João Gomes (Wolverhampton), Lucas Paquetá (West Ham), Raphael Veiga (Palmeiras).

Forwards: Antony (Manchester United), Yuri Alberto (Corinthians), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Rony (Palmeiras), Vini Júnior (Real Madrid), Vitor Roque (Athletico-PR).

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