Olimpíadas - Tóquio 2021

Alves is still quality.

 

I'd been meaning to reply but didn't get around to it.

After 2016, when Brazil finally secured gold and ended the problem of "Olympic title is only major achievement Brazilians are yet to reach," for me it was just the possibility of a second gold. But it's always nice to win, and this team seems very strong and well-managed.

I agree with you in that Tite should observe the Olympics and regardless of the final standings, that any truly outstanding young player should be incorporated into senior NT duty, in addition to those whom Tite has already capped. I hope Tite does just as you said.

 

The Germans scored one and one of their players was red-carded soon after for a foul on Daniel Alves.

 

Germany was never that hot at the youth level tournaments. African nations on the other hand have won many a sub-20 WC and quite a few Olympic gold, but always flopped at the pro level. We have a good middle of the road approach. Winning the second gold straight would cancel off losing 1996 with Rivaldo, R9, Carlos, Bebeto, Dida, etc. That memory still irritates me.

 

I was pulling my hair out. That "olympic" team is still one of the best rosters we ever had. So very disappointing how that turned out for us.

 

Somewhere in the depths of my personal property (LOL), I have several editions of PLACAR magazine, and one of them is a special from either 1999 or 2000. It chronicles every single match by the Seleção, and there were a few special sections - the greatest players (alive and deceased; Pelé, Garrincha, Leônidas da Silva, Carlos Alberto Torres, among others), the 10 greatest matches, and the 10 greatest disappointments.

Among the disappointments was the 3-4 defeat to Nigeria in Atlanta. And the text on that game speaks about the 1996 Olympic Team as “... tão boa quanto à Seleção Principal, talvez até melhor que a Seleção Principal.”

Dida, Aldair, Roberto Carlos, Bebeto, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, among others...

I had a lot of hopes for 2000, because Brazil kicked butt in the Torneio Pré-Olímpico Sul-Americano, with a 9-0 victory over Colombia and a 4-2 victory over Argentina. But losing that time was painful. We didn't even reach the semifinals.

It was frustrating go see Olympic tournament after Olympic tournament without Brazil as champion, and in 2012, we get to the final.... and fall short.

Personally, what I found difficult to deal with was that there were teams who had nowhere near Brazil's footballing history who were winning gold: Nigeria, Cameroon. Argentina had Messi in 2004 and in 2008, so for them to win it was u understandable. And I know Mexico develops solid youth teams, but it was strange that they won it before Brazil did.

Thankfully, 2016 came and went and Brazil won it - on home turf.

A lot of the longtime posters here will remember that for us fans, it wasn't just the accomplishment of a long-elusive goal; it was a psychological shift which allowed us to envision a better future following 2014. Tite helped make that a reality, even though the main national team fell short in 2018.

With Brazil as the defending Olympic champion and therefore, with now no major title missing from the annals of Brazilian football, I am no longer going to be bothered if Brazil fails to win Olympic gold, assuming of course Brazil's team plays its best. At the end of the day, youth play should be used to determine who among the players deemed qualified to represent Brazil at U-17, U-20, and U-23 competition can eventually become regulars for the main team. And it appears that whereas Brazil's senior NT has had a bit of an "entressafra" in recent years, the team in Japan has a few guys who could serve Brazil well in upcoming World Cup qualifying and then, World Cup competition.

 

I'd say better than the 98 team for sure, Bebeto and Aldair were younger, R9 was having his absolute best year and Conceicao was probably a better DM than Dunga who was becoming slow and geriatric at that point.

it was an awesome mash-up of the Tetra and Penta generations, plus a couple of really good young players whose careers fizzled out post Olympics such as Ze Maria who was actually a better crosser and passer than Cafu, Flavio Conceicao who had a great long distance shot (scored twice against Nigeria) . And Amaral who is still remembered and played for many big teams into the 2000s but never returned to the selecao after that.

 

Dive of the year!

 

Definately watching both men’s and women’s with great interest.
Both off to a great start especially women’s tying Holland considered as the worlds best. Men need to watch the African nations; tudo gato.

 

Saudi Arabia has been eliminated, but I don't expect them to take to the pitch passively. Twice they were down against Germany by 1 goal and twice they drew, only to lose 3-2. And they scored on the Ivory Coast, which Brazil did not do; in fact, the Ivory Coast defeated Saudi Arabia only because of an own goal.

I do expect Brazil to win, but as Ombak said, even with a win, Brazil may finish as runner-up.

Interestingly, the only team which has won the two matches it has played is Japan. It defeated South Africa 1-0 and then defeated Mexico 2-1 (they scored on Ochoa, that goalie Brazil couldn't score on in 2014). I want to say all those soccer programs with Brazilian managers and players coming to Japan helped, but the Japanese have been improving on their own over the years and deserve credit.

 

Japan could've probably had better international results if they played in a more cynical manner like Korea. But they have a lot of national pride and like to go toe to toe with the big boys, which makes then fun to watch but at times has also lead to some embarrassing results.

They avoid the "time pequeno" mentality at all costs and I respect them for that. Japan could've beaten Belgium in 2018 had they employed some time wasting tactics when they were up 2-0. That third goal was completely avoidable but they were very naive.

 

It’s funny you mention Korea.

When Zico was Japan’s manager from 2002-2006, there was a time Korea and Japan played a friendly. Japan won. The KFA requested a rematch, which the JFA granted. Thus, a second friendly occurred, which Korea won.

The JFA then requested a third friendly – which the KFA refused. Zico remarked this was naivete on the JFA’s part; while on one hand Korea and Japan had split this series with 1 win apiece (the score for both was 1-0), the Japanese felt shortchanged because Korea won the last match and did not grant Japan a rematch the way Japan had granted Korea a rematch.

(This was April 16, 2003 in Seoul’s World Cup Stadium, where Japan won, followed by May 31, 2003 in the Tokyo National Stadium, where Korea won.)

Zico remarked at the time that the Japanese were “innocent.”

Not that this means Korea or its clubs know how to do catimba the way we have so often seen in the Copa Libertadores, and more than once UEFA clubs/players have remarked very negatively about that. But sometimes a bit of malandragem is necessary. Had Japan employed a bit of that as you say, the win against Belgium may well have happened.

 

Holding the ball in the corner is fine but all the other shenanigans is stupid because all it does is stop the clock and add a bunch of added time.

 

Not a great result against Ivory Coast but we had many missed opportunities.
We should get an easy win over the Saudis and advance as top of the group.

 

you could see that in the 3rd goal as well. Half of the Japanese team didn't track back because they were expecting the ref to blow the whistle immediately after the corner kick or something.

na primeira bola na area depois dos 2x0 o goleiro Japones tinha que cair e fazer um minuto cera, mandar entrar massagista,etc. Daria uma esfriada nos Belgas.

You cannot make up for all the lost time. In the average soccer match the ball rolls for about 60 minutes, there's usually only about 5 or 6 minutes of added time each half.