England host Brazil at Wembley tonight in a highly-prestigious friendly game. The Samba Boys are one of the most exciting young international teams in world football, but it seems that that they have yet to convince that they are the real deal just yet.
Patchy
Brazil have put in patchy performances of late and this poor form cost head coach Mano Menezes his job. The team struggled to find consistency as Menezes attempted to revolutionize the whole squad my bringing the average age of the squad down.
The team did show some promise, but underperformed in a number of games and those poor performances lead to the Brazilians dropping down to 18th in the FIFA world rankings.
Scolari
Former-Chelsea boss Luis Felipe Scolari was appointed as the Brazilian national team head coach for the second time in November replacing Menezes. Big Phil has shown his intentions with the squad he has picked for the friendly in the English capital.
Scolari decided to recall the experienced duo of Ronaldinho and keeper Julio Cesar. Ronaldinho was part of Scolari’s team when the Selecao claimed the World Cup in 2002. Ronaldinho is now plying his trade with Atletico Mineiro.
The 33 year-old has had a new lease of life back home and it has led to his recall to the national team. The mercurial ex-World Player of the year had been out-of-favour with Menezes, but Scolari will be hoping that Ronaldinho can rediscover some of the form that made him the best player in the world.
Stability
Luis Felipe Scolari has to restore stability to the Brazilian national team with the country hosting the World Cup next year. Games like tonight’s friendly with England are vital if the Brazilians are going to have a chance of claiming their sixth world crown.
Scolari has done it before and tonight we will enjoy a taste of what is to come from Neymar and his teammates in 2014. Whether Scolari can repeat the trick of winning the Jules Rimet trophy next year remains to be seen.
Can Luis Felipe Scolari restore the Brazilian national team’s fortunes?
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