Confederations Cup 2013: Is this the renaissance of Brazilian football?
Neymar of Brazil celebrates with fans at the end of the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 Final match between Brazil and Spain at Maracana on June 30, 2013
Is it safe to assume that the renaissance of Brazilian football is well underway? Well, the emotionally-driven Selecao fans would certainly think so ahead of the world’s biggest football event on the planet – the 2014 FIFA World Cup – in their own backyard in less than a year from now.
The mood among the Brazilian fans surely wouldn’t have been the same as they went into the 2013 Confederations Cup with a string of unconvincing results. To put it candidly, the Brazilian football have been down in the mouth for a pretty long while now.
Two quarterfinal exits in the 2006 (lost 0-1 to France) and 2010 (lost 1-2 to the Netherlands) World Cups were a pointer to the sagging fortunes of the yellow-and-blue brigade.
The Brazilian Football Confederation had been walking on a tense path after disappointing performance in back-to-back World Cups leading to sacking of coach Dunga, who had led the country to 1994 World Cup glory.
It may be worth recalling that Dunga, a fierce defender in his heydays, was in the hot seat since 2006 and his exit left the Brazilian Football Confederation groping for answers in a bid to arrest the team’s steep slide, not to speak about the demanding Samba fans, whose frustrations were wearing thin.
The Brazilian Football Confederation appointed Mano Menezes as its new national coach in July 2010, but his stint failed to bring about any upswing in the team’s fortunes.
The cracks began to surface during the 2011 Copa America tournament in Argentina, where Brazil – the reigning champions – crashed out of the quarterfinals – going down 0-2 to Paraguay – a match they failed to score a single penalty in the shootout.
Brazil were handed a 0-2 defeat by Mexico in a friendly in 2012, but the last straw probably for the Brazilian Football Confederation was the national side’s failure to win the London Olympics gold and settling for a runners-up finish, after losing 1-2 to Mexico, who were fast proving to be their nemesis.
Brazil slipped out of the top-10 in FIFA rankings for the first time ever in July, 2012 after the rankings were first introduced in 1993.
With the 2014 World Cup not far away, the Brazilian Football Confederation had to act fast for they do not wish to see the hellish sight of their side struggling in front of their home fans in the showpiece event.
The Brazilian Football Confederation fell back on Luiz Felipe Scolari last November – the man who guided the Samba boys to glory in the 2002 World Cup held in Japan and South Korea.
The determination of BFC to set their house in order stems from the fact it hired Carlos Alberto Parreira, who guided Brazil to glory in the 1994 World Cup as Scolari’s technical assistant.
But Scolari’s journey in his second spell as national coach wasn’t an auspicious one as Brazil lost 1-2 to England in a friendly at the Wembley Stadium in February.
Scolari’s record going into the Confederations Cup wasn’t something that would get the Samba fans excited. Two wins, four draws and one loss weren’t exactly indicating a rosy picture for Brazilian football.
Brazil’s performance in the lead-up to the Confederations Cup was a bit of a mixed bag as well. Brazil drew 2-2 with Chile in a scrappy affair before going on to play out a 2-2 draw with England at the Maracana Stadium.
The Samba boys did notch up a much improved 3-0 win over France – a result which ended their 21-year winless run against Les Bleus, which happened to be their final warm-up tie before the Confederations Cup.
With teams like current world champions Spain, former world champions Uruguay and Italy in the fray, not many were expecting Brazil to set the Confederations Cup on fire.
But Scolari instilled a new-found belief in the Brazilian players as well in their fans’ mind with a clinical performance in the league phase – posting eye-catching wins over Japan, Mexico and Italy. They beat Uruguay in a scrappy semi-final before conquering the Spanish Armada in the final.
The manner in which this Brazil team dismantled the all-conquering Spanish team has rejuvenated the spirits of their fans. This win will surely raise expectations of the Brazilians next summer, which will likely increase the pressure on the players. But, to sum it up, this Brazil team, with a perfect blend of silk and steel, will be one of the favourites to lift the World Cup in the Maracan and exorcise the ghosts of 1950.