I will be very interested in seeing the USMNT play against Brazil and Turkey in the Confederations Cup. Obviously, it is not the World Cup but still a interesting competition. I am curious as to how you guys think the U.S will approach the game against Brazil. Will Arena try to attack the often shaky Brazilian defense from the start? Would a very aggresive attack be in the U.S's interest? I am also wondering what kind of team Perreira will field in the Confed Cup and who Arena will call up. What do you think?
a lot of clubs in Europe are not going to release their players for this tournament so, Brazil is unlikely playing with all of their stars.
Is perreira the Brazilian coach? Brazil said they would bring a U-23 (hello Kaka, Robinho) to the Gold Cup. I'm not sure how many counties have acyually out and out attacked Brazil. Thats not really the smartest thing to do in the world. I would say that Midfield posession would be more important
One of the Brazilian coaches got fired for a bad showing at ConFed Cup, they'll be trying to win this thing
Yep, Carlos Alberto Perreira of 1994 World Cup fame is Scolari's replacement. So do you really think Robinho will be called up? I think it would be great to call up some of Brazil's developing stars like Diego, Robinho, and Kaka but so far, only the established national team players have been called up. I hope though. What about Arena, will he call up the strongest U.S team possible.
Arena said that we could see one or two new faces. But I'm not exactly what he means by that. It seems he's already capped half of MLS. So your guess would be as good as mine in this. and my guess would be a mix of veteran vs mls vs young Euro players. Just some names to think about from Europe that aren't exactly on BigSoccer's radarscreen. Wade Barrett, Cory Gibbs, and Steve Cherundolo. I honestly think that Dolo will be the Right back in 2006. He gets better every time you see him in a US jersey and was one of our better players on the field vs Venezuela. OK Final answer, a very good team with some young talent, but not experimental players. Here's a formula for you Young or Euros who play + Young EXCEPTIONAL MLS talent (pretty much Martino and Convey) + MLS Regulars - Older MLS regulars - MLS Experimentals (Cunnigham, Klein, etc) + John O'Brien and Claudio Reyna = ConFed Cup Roster
The mind of Carlos Alberto Parreira... CAP will almost certainly bring most of the WC vets. He says he intends make very few changes to the base of the WC team to maintain team coherence. CAP's approach is to keep a fairly stable squad and make only a few changes in each call up list, so it's unlikely that we'll see many new players in the Confeds. Recall that he won the WC in 94 in the face of fierce press and public criticism every step of the way. If anything, he's been castigating the Brazilian press about their impatience and lecturing them on the virtues of team coherence. Here's a list (I think complete) of players called up over the two games since he took over the squad - friendlies against China and Portugal: GKs: Dida (Milan), Júlio César (Flamengo), Marcos (Palmeiras) Outside backs: Cafu (Roma), Belletti (Villareal), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid), Júnior (Parma). Central defenders: Juan (Bayer Leverkusen), Edmílson (Lyon), Roque Júnior (Milan), Luisão (Cruzeiro), Cris (Bayer Leverkusen), Anderson Polga (Grêmio) Mids: Emerson (Roma), Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Flávio Conceição (Real Madrid), Zé Roberto (Bayern), Juninho Pernambucano (Lyon), Rivaldo (Milan), Kléberson (Atlético-PR), Kaká (São Paulo) Forwards: Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (PSG), Denílson (Betis), Amoroso (Dortmund), Adriano (Parma) The following is the list of players that he's called up so far for the Mexico friendly on April 30 (which will presumably be on Telemundo). In addition, he's expected to call up another five domestic players on Tues (4/22). Keep in mind that Roberto Carlos, Denílson, and Kaká are currently unvailable because of suspension or injury. GK: Dida (Milan) Outside backs: Cafu (Roma), Belletti (Villarreal), Júnior (Parma) Central Defenders: Juan (Bayer Leverkusen), Edmílson (Lyon) Mids: Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Juninho Pernambucano (Lyon), Émerson (Roma), Flávio Conceição (Real Madrid), Zé Roberto (Bayern), Rivaldo (Milan), Kleberson (Atlético-PR) Forwards: Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (PSG), Adriano (Parma), Amoroso (Dortmund)
yea, i'd say Reyna, JOB, Friedel/Keller, Martino, Convey, Bocanegra, Donovan, Beasley, McBride, Mathis, Victorine will be most likely there. any one i'm forgetting?
we arent showing up with only 12 players, and NO defenders.. Mastroeni, Klein, Pope, Berhalter, Cherundolo, Wolff, Armas...
The Alternate Squad scheme needs 21 players In such tournaments as the confed cup (3 matches in 5 days), it is likely that Arena will bring enough players to allow 2 totally different rosters (it's happened before with the USMNT). So figure 18 field players and 3 keepers. Reyna is now in the pool with O'Brien a sure thing. Stewart and probably Klein will be at R mid. Beasley and don't count out Lewis will be at L mid. Kirovski, McBride, Donovan, Mathis and maybe Wolff will be forwards. Mastroeni and Armas at D Mid, Cherundolo-Hejduk-Pope-Garcia-Bocanegra-Berhalter-Convey-Barrett fill out the back. Keller and Friedel might be backed up by Hahnemann who has had a super season at Reading and would spare another MLS player. There should be a 1-week camp prior to the Cup in the US and the initial pool which could include more than 21 players (I recall 25 players at former camps). This is getting very exciting!
Does anyone know how long of a camp Arena is planning for? There's a rumor there will be a friendly on June 8 (the one that was going to be in DC but is rumored to be headed to Richmond, VA due to scheduling issues at RFK). That's 11 days before the Turkey match on the 19th. Perhaps he'll call in players starting on June 2, do a 1 week US camp, play the friendly and then head over to France for another week of preparation? Looking at the calendar, if the US makes it to the semis of the Confed Cup, they will only have one week between the end of CC and the start of the Gold Cup. If we also make it to Gold Cup finals that means that some MLS players could miss up to 9 straight weeks of the season. That's even longer than the World Cup hit last summer, isn't it?
appooOnU "Brazil said they would bring a U-23 (hello Kaka, Robinho) to the Gold Cup." Brazil is participating in the Gold Cup? I thought it was CONCACAF.
Re: appooOnU CONCACAF, with two invited teams. Last time it was South Korea and Ecuador. This time it's Brazil and Colombia.
Brazil update CAP announced the rest of his roster for the April 30 friendly against Mexico: GK: Marcos (Palmeiras) Left outside back: Athirson (Flamengo) Central defenders: Luisão (Cruzeiro), Anderson Polga (Grêmio) Attacking mid: Diego (Santos) http://www.estadao.com.br/esportes/noticias/2003/abr/22/63.htm Diego's appearance is something of a surprise. CAP had been downplaying expectations about calling up the young stars at Santos. Diego and Robinho have both been named by CAP, Zagallo, and U-23 coach Ricardo Gomes as likely call ups for the U-23 team that will compete in the Gold Cup. I'd still expect to see Diego (and Robinho and several other young, promising Santos players) in the GC as Gomes plans to use that tourney to prepare his squad for Olympic qualifiers. Athirson is the other new call up. He gets this chance because Roberto Carlos is unavailable. But he's been outstanding for Flamengo and I'd expect him to stay in the pool for a while. Juventus still owns his rights (although Flamengo has been trying to keep him) and will probably be back in Italy next season. The full roster for the trip to Guadalajara is now as follows (positions just for reference in CAP's usual scheme - obviously players can be versatile): GKs: Dida (Milan) Marcos (Palmeiras) Outside backs: Cafu (Roma) Belletti (Villarreal) Júnior (Parma) Athirson (Flamengo) Central defenders: Luisão (Cruzeiro) Anderson Polga (Grêmio) Juan (Leverkusen) Edmílson (Lyon) Defensive mids: Gilberto Silva (Arsenal) Émerson (Roma) Flávio Conceição (Real Madrid) Kleberson (Atlético-PR) Attacking mids: Juninho Pernambucano (Lyon) Ronaldinho (PSG) Zé Roberto (Bayern) Diego (Santos) Forwards: Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Rivaldo (Milan) Adriano (Parma) Amoroso (Dortmund) If you want an idea for the Confed squad, add Roberto Carlos (suspended) back in and probably also Denílson (injured) and maybe Kaká (injured). I believe that the other player that he's used in friendlies so far that isn't called up for this friendly is central defender Roque Júnior (Milan).
Re: Brazil update and we're planning to use something thats less than full strength???????????????????? Holy crap. This will easily be the most talented team that about 99% of our players will have played against
Re: Re: Brazil update It will be interesting to see what our strategy is against Brazil. They are the middle game of a three-games-in-five-days schedule, so I wonder if Arena is going to go full-out for a result against Turkey and then, if we get one, rest a few guys so we can do the same against Cameroon in the third game. As in Korea, I expect we'll see a different lineup each game. The question is -- how different?
Indeed Its amazing. Brazil can have two completely separate teams and still have a great chance of winning the competition. Wow.
If I recall correctly, the one thing for which Carlos Alberto Perriera was faulted in WC94 was that his team played too tactically for the Brazilian supporters. Too much like a European team, in other words, and not enough of "the beautiful game". Leave it to Brazil to find something to object to when a team brings home the World Cup! If I were a betting man, I'd bet on a more conservative approach than what we're used to seeing Brazil play. If I were Bruce Arena, I'd seek to possess the ball as much as possible, only taking chances where they come rather than forcing the action too much. And I'd still predict a 1-0 victory to Brazil.
Which Brazilian attacker(s) would cause a bigger problem for the U.S defense? Seeing Ronaldo and Rivaldo play recently, I am not sure of their form and of their threat against the U.S. Both don't seem to be nearly as dangerous as they were during the World Cup. I think Ronaldinho and Adriano would be the bigger threats. Maybe Diego, haven't seen him play yet. What do you think? I am curious as to what the U.S defenders they will match up against. How is Eddie Pope doing this season anyway?
a few more thoughts Good catch. He was out injured for a while. IIRC, he came back this past weekend against Schalke. Assuming that he gets fully fit, I guess you can pencil him in as another likely returnee for the Confeds player pool. ... Btw, my understanding is that this April 30 game against Mexico in Guadalajara is the game that Brazil added to replace the previously expected US x Brazil friendly on April 29 or 30. I know we never saw anything official about that game, but it was widely reported in the Brazilian press that it was cancelled by the US for security reasons. I have no idea if that's true - just telling you what's been reported. If that's true, then it would've been the US that this Brazilian squad would face next week. Oh well. It’s also true that Mexico is paying big bucks to ensure that Brazil brings its WC stars. But I’d bet CAP was planning on doing so anyway. ... As to how the US may match up, it's probably worth noting just a couple of things. First, after Brazil played the US at USA 94, CAP commented that he was surprised by how conservatively the US played. He suggested that the US could've tried to send more numbers forward more often. CAP doesn't usually crticize opponents (he leaves that for Zagallo ), so I think he meant honestly - perhaps even as something of a compliment - that the US could've taken better advantage of opportunities to go forward. Bruce will almost certainly give his team more freedom to take risks than Bora did in 94. And that's the right approach. Brazil sees overly-defensive, almost bunker-style play from opponents all the time. And it rarely works. They're used to it and you just can't bottle up world class creative players for 90 mins. Teams with far less talent that have done surprising well against Brazil - Norway, Denmark - have done so by taking a very aggressive, attacking approach. Second, CAP likes to use two mostly-defensive mids. Think of Dunga and Mauro Silva in 94. The obvious choices for the Confeds would be two of Gilberto Silva, Emerson, or Kleberson. These two will play in front of two mostly stay-at-home central defenders. The central defender player pool happens to be very deep right now (perhaps the deepest Brazil’s ever had), so I don’t think it matters much which two he picks. The point is that Brazil will have two excellent central defenders (likely WC 02 winners) playing behind two world class defensive mids. So the US will have to figure out how to deal with that four man defensive set up in the middle. Many teams just sort of give up and hope to get lucky on a counter. The US should be bolder. Bruce should focus on the flanks. Most teams don’t have the capabilities to attack effectively down the flanks, but I think the US actually has some good wide options. Finally, much of Brazil's offensive threat will depend on who plays in the two attacking mid spots. CAP has some great options - Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Diego, Juninho Pernambucano and Juninho Paulista can all play there - but he's often decided to go with a less creative, more bureaucratic pairing. Think of Zinho and Mazinho in 94.