Football: Brazil can out-Barca Spain - Dani Alves

Brazil defender Dani Alves said Saturday his compatriots have sufficient weapons in their armoury to deny Spain glory in Sunday’s Confederations Cup final.

Drawing on his experience as a Barcelona player Alves said the fact that the Catalan club had failed to land Champions League glory was an indication that teams have managed to find a remedy to the pass and move, possession-keeping style which Spain and Barca favour.

“All teams have their weak points – and so do they,” Alves told reporters as he looked forward to Sunday’s showdown at the Maracana stadium in Rio.

“With Barca we did not win the Champions League because another philosophy was imposed on us,” said Alves, referring to Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final humbling by eventual champions Bayern Munich.

“The Selacao have other qualities and we will use our own weapons to defend ourselves.”

For Alves, “the big difference is our capacity to improvise. Just when people think they know everything about us we still manage to surprise.

“It will be a special day and we shall have to come up with something special to win it. Our team has made a lot of progress, we know each other better and better and I am sure we are going to bring much joy to our fans.”

Brazil are going for a hattrick of titles, having won in Germany in 2005 and South Africa in 2009 while they also lifted the trophy in 1999.

Spain, going for a fourth straight major title after the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, have never won the Confederations event.