Brazil aren’t used to playing second-fiddle in South America, yet that’s been their situation recently with Argentina running rampant. That might be about to change, however, with a new generation of superstars, led by Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, and now Endrick rising through the ranks. Might this Copa America be a Brazilian power grab?
How to follow the European Championship and Copa America on The Athletic…
The manager
It’s lucky Dorival Junior has a reputation as a managerial firefighter, because he walked into a towering inferno when he took the Brazil job in January. He became their third coach since the 2022 World Cup little more than a year earlier — and the third one who wasn’t Carlo Ancelotti, the man the Brazilian federation had been expecting to lead the team at this Copa America and beyond.
On the pitch, performances had been poor, and results even worse: Brazil lost three of their first six World Cup qualifiers, leaving them sixth in the 10-team South American group, below Venezuela and also Ecuador, who started the campaign on minus three points. Dorival inherited a team low on confidence and devoid of direction, lurching along in the dark.
It would be an exaggeration to say that all is now wine and roses, but the outlook has certainly shifted since that low ebb.
The genial, paternalistic 62-year-old has been a breath of fresh air, uniting the squad and restoring an intangible sense of calm around the setup. It does not hurt that he is widely liked by journalists, many of whom have grown to know him well across his two decades in Brazilian club football.
Tactically, he is flexible rather than didactic. “I never arrive with a pre-conceived system,” Dorival explained at his first press conference. “I prefer to work out what I have at my disposal and then decide on tactics.”
In their March friendlies against England (1-0) and Spain (3-3), he set his team up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Rodrygo playing a roaming role up front. The system worked well — the display at Wembley in particular was seen as a huge upgrade on what Brazil had served up in previous matches — and will most likely serve as the blueprint for this summer.
Dorival Junior has righted the Brazilian ship (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)The household name you haven’t heard of yet
OK, fine, you may have heard of Endrick, the 17-year-old boy wonder who will join Real Madrid this summer. But the Copa America represents the first chance many people will have to see him in the wild, without YouTube ads and garish background music.
He is an amazingly complete forward for his age, capable of scoring spectacular goals but also subtle in his movement and able to hold his own physically. Beyond that, Endrick just seems to exude confidence and maturity. There is an air of serene inevitability about him, which was on full display when he scored against both England and Spain.
Strengths
They have staggering quality and depth in the wing department. Most obviously, there is Vinicius Junior, who appears ready to make this side his own after slowly emerging from the shadow of the injured Neymar at international level. His relationship with fellow Real Madrid man Rodrygo, who loves to drift over and join him on the left flank, will be critical to Brazil’s hopes this summer.
They are backed up by four further options: Raphinha, Gabriel Martinelli, Pepe and Savio. The latter, a left-footed flyer who can play on either side, is a new face in the squad but an exciting one. If his form on loan at Spanish side Girona last season is anything to go by, he will be an explosive trump card off the bench.
On a more prosaic note, the sense of security conferred by an excellent goalkeeper (Alisson) and solid centre-backs (Marquinhos and Eder Militao, or Gabriel if the latter is not fully fit after a season almost entirely lost to a knee injury) is not to be overlooked.
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Weaknesses
Brazil’s starting left-back is likely to be Wendell, who has put together a good couple of seasons at Porto but is inexperienced in the international game, having only made his senior debut in March. The jury is out on whether he is the solution to what has been a problem position over the past few years.
Wendell could be a weak link for Brazil (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)Thing you didn’t know
Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Joao Gomes is not just brave in the tackle; he has also spoken engagingly about the social anxiety that he endured as a child due to a prominent stammer. “I missed out on a lot of things in my life due to fear,” the 23-year-old told The Athletic last November. “Fear of what others would think of me, what they would say. That fear limits you. You close yourself up in a bubble.”
Today, Gomes is much more at ease with himself: “I realised that I have a lot to give to other people. God gave me a lot of good attributes so I could share them with others. I started to see that as an obligation. Maybe one day he will say, ‘From now on, you will speak fluently’. But there is a reason for everything. It’s not a big deal.”
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Expectations back home
It is vanishingly rare for the side known as the Selecao (the selection) to arrive at a tournament without a big, looming cloud of obligation in tow. Brazilian fans can be exceptionally demanding, and not always — not even often — in a manner that benefits their team.
Against that backdrop, the run-up to this Copa America has been refreshingly breezy. With no Neymar, no Casemiro and no Thiago Silva, this is not just a younger, fresher squad; it is also one with fewer bad memories, less psychological scar tissue, less accumulated trauma. There is a levity to the mood, among players and fans alike.
Dorival deserves huge credit for this. He will also be well aware that the momentum can shift in a fraction of a second — and that tournament football has its own internal gravity. When the Copa America kicks off on Thursday (early Friday UK time), the usual expectations will probably kick in, and anything less than a spot in the semi-finals will be regarded as an abject failure.
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Brazil’s Copa America squad
Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Bento (Athletico Paranaense), Rafael (Sao Paolo)
Defenders: Lucas Beraldo (Paris Saint-Germain), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Gabriel (Arsenal), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Danilo (Juventus), Yan Couto (Manchester City), Guilherme Arana (Atletico Mineiro), Wendell (Porto)
Midfielders: Andreas Pereira (Fulham), Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Joao Gomes (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham United), Pepe (Porto), Ederson (Atalanta)
Forwards: Endrick (Palmeiras), Evanilson (Porto), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Raphinha (Barcelona), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Savio (Troyes), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid).
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: John Bradford)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5548496/2024/06/16/brazil-copa-america-team-guide/
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Publish date : 2024-06-16 06:32:11
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Publish date : 2024-06-16 12:29:14
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