Brazil’s failure to capture gold at the Olympics, and worse, losing to Argentina on the way, has put coach Dunga under yet more pressure for their World Cup qualifer in Chile tomorrow.
High-profile striker Robinho has also joined the squad following his move to Manchester City from Real Madrid and Dunga has him at his disposal to help them move up from fifth place in the 10-team South American table in this seventh round of the 18-match qualifying series.
No coach’s job is harder than that of Brazil, a record five-times World Cup winners and who are the only team to have played in every World Cup finals.
PHOTO: AFP
“We have to win. I know that,” Dunga said. “The Chile game will be difficult but we must look for the three points.”
Brazil, who if they stayed in fifth place would have to playoff with a CONCACAF side for a place at the South Africa finals in 2010, have only won two of their six games to date and are four points behind leaders Paraguay and two adrift of Argentina, in second spot.
Dunga faces a selection poser over which two strikers — out of Ronaldinho, Robinho and Luis Fabiano — to use up front.
Reports claim Dunga will not leave Robinho on the bench because he was one of the few stars to shine in winning the Copa America in Venezuela last year, with Robinho scoring all three goals in their 3-0 victory over Chile.
Manchester City’s new man has played 30 times and scored nine goals since his debut in 2006.
Dunga must also choose a replacement goalkeeper as first-choice Juan is suspended.
Argentina coach Alfio Basile, fresh from claiming Olympic gold last month, has a myriad of options and talent available for today’s top-of-the table clash against Paraguay in Buenos Aires.
He could play Boca Juniors’ Juan Riquelme as the playmaker behind Lionel Messi Javier Mascherano in a forward position.
He also has Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez at his disposal, plus Napoli’s German Denis and Newcastle’s Jonas Gutierrez as players giving his side attacking impetus.
In midfield, Basile has the revelation of the Olympic games in Benfica’s Angel De Maria, Inter Milan’s Andres D’Alessandro, Lisandro Lopez of FC Porto, plus Boca Juniors’ Sebastian Battaglia and Esteban Cambiasso of Inter Milan as possible starters.
Keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri would be expected to start the game with Juan Pablo Carrizo as understudy. The defensive line is clearer in selection terms with Martin Demichelis, Fabricio Coloccini, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Zanetti likely to be the back four.
Paraguay’s former goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert said he believed his country could win the fixture, claiming their position at the top of the table was merited.
“Hopefully Paraguay will have a great game,” said the goalkeeper at the 1998 World Cup finals in France. “They have the team capable of winning. If we could enter a time tunnel, I would love to have had some of the players at the World Cup in France,” referring to Roque Santa Cruz, Salvador Cabins and Oscar Cardozo.
Paraguay held their own in the second round against eventual 1998 champions France, finally losing 1-0.
Other matches taking place this weekend see Ecuador against Bolivia, Colombia facing Uruguay, and Peru playing Venezuela.
The teams will have a couple of days or so to regroup before further battles in midweek.
Paraguay host Venezuela on Tuesday, with Wednesday fixtures comprising Uruguay versus Ecuador, Chile against Colombia, Peru entertaining Argentina and Brazil at home to Bolivia.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS