Brazil is the most successful nation in the history of World Cup football, their record is unmatched. Brazil has won the prestigious trophy five times so far. They last lifted the elusive trophy in 2002. Since then Brazil hasn’t performed that well in the last three World Cups. In 2014 World Cup semi-finals they suffered a heavy defeat in the hands of Germany (1-7), in front of their home crowd. It was probably the darkest day in the Brazilian football history.
People around the world have huge expectations with the Brazilian Side. As the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Russia is scheduled to begin shortly, let's take a look at Brazil’s chances in this edition of the tournament.
Brazil started their qualifying campaign under Dunga’s coaching. But struggling in the first phase of the qualifying round, hence Dunga was sacked from his duty. After Dunga, Tite took the charge of the national side. Under Tite’s guidance, they started to play a positive brand of football and won matches consecutively. In fact, Brazil was the first team to book their ticket for Russia. People of Brazil believe that Tite will bring the much-required balance between their forward and defensive line.
Neymar Factor :
Neymar is the main attraction. This could be his world cup. Neymar would definitely like to make amends in this tournament. In their last campaign at home, Neymar was out with injury an in the middle of the tournament and was not able to play in the semis, which Brazil lost. Four years after that drubbing, Brazilian fans all over the globe will look forward to Neymar to bring the cup home. This time also he is coming to Russia with a few doubts over his fitness. He has not fully recovered from the injury which he sustained in February. Neymar has not played competitive football for almost four months. And that is a concern for Brazil. It will be interesting to see how quickly he gets back to match fitness.
Strengths:
The key factor of this Brazil side is that they are not totally dependent on Neymar like the previous occasion. Neymar definitely is their main talisman. But they have lots of young talented players in the squads too. Under Tite’s coaching Brazil started to play as a cohesive unit that is their main strength going into this World Cup.
Goalkeeping: Roma’s Alison is the number one choice as a goalkeeper. Ederson and Casio are there as a backup option.
Defence: In the defence line, experienced players like Thiago Silva, Marcelo and Miranda will provide the calming influence with the Marquinhos and Danilo bringing a relatively youthful dimension to the selecao’s side.
Mid-field: Real Madrid Casemiro will look to lead from the front in mid-field but he could face stiff competition from Man City star Fernandinho. Barcelona duo Paulinho and Philippe Coutinho will hope to replicate their club form after making the cut. Renato Augusto, Fred, and Willian complete the midfield line-up.
fForward: PSG star Neymar will be supported in the attack line by the likes of Roberto Firmino and Gabriel Jesus, as well as Taison and Douglas Costa.
Weakness :
The absence of Dani Alves is a big blow. In strategic point of view, there is a slight void in defence when they are attacking through the wings. Brazil hasn’t got the opportunity to play against the quality opponents leading into the World Cup which could be a cause of concern for Tite.
Probable XI :
Alison(GK), Marcelo,Thiago Silva, Miranda, Marquihons, Casemiro, Paulinho, Willian, Coutinho, Neymar, Jesus
Group E
Brazil
Switzerland
Costa Rica
Serbia
