Scolari is an old school guy, just saying. Also the lower leagues is where players get their start, unless they get a chance on the lower leagues they won't see top leagues.
look i'm not saying scolari is a racist, i'm saying that the doubt which he may not even THINK about is there, installed on his mind like it's nothing bad. Most forms of racism is that way, even if the person is not aware he's doing it. Like a girl holding her purse when a black person walks into an elevator. She might not even think about what she just did there, and even have black friends.. but without thinking.. that was her response.
BS. If Scolari thought that way, Jefferson wouldn't even be in the 23. He could have called Diego Alves who has been in very good form in Valencia for a long time or Diego Cavallieri. As for the lower leagues, I can see that happening. Although I am not sure if that's a rule or the exception. Cases obviously do occur, but I'd be careful to extrapolate that as a rule of thumb. Anyways, I will stop here because this is off-topic.
I think we're actually in "heated agreement" about the point that's supposedly in dispute. You may have missed a portion of my post (to be fair, it was kind of long): We probably do disagree, however, on the predictive significance of this one game: If they play the way they did yesterday against a top side during the knockout-phase, they could well be out of the tournament. But it's important to remember that this wasn't the knockout phase. It was the opening match, under enormous pressure, which can only have been multiplied by Marcelo's own goal. Yet, despite this pressure and some notable shortcomings, the Seleção showed grit and the ability to adapt. That was my overall takeway. As Tim Vickery put it: "It would be [a] [dreadful] error [...] to write off Brazil's chances of winning the tournament merely because they were below par against Croatia. The debut game creates extraordinary pressures. The team used up so much emotional energy that there was little gas left in the tank for the game. The tempo of the passing and movement was often insufficient. And in the second half, the team seemed unable to press Croatia, who enjoyed prolonged spells of possession. [...] But there were also things for Scolari to celebrate, quite apart from the three points. Indeed, in the long term, more important than the three points is the flexibility shown by the line of three in Brazil's 4-2-3-1 formation. Under pressure for his place, Oscar gave a man-of-the-match performance, showing the full range of his versatility. He was impressive in an unaccustomed wide-right role and made contributions all over the pitch -- such as scoring the third goal, an inspired no-backlift toe poke reminiscent of Ronaldo against Turkey in the semifinal of the 2002 World Cup. He retained possession and slipped the ball through for Neymar to bring Brazil level. The boy prince of the Brazilian game spent most of the match in a central role, operating deeper than his usual duties wide on the left. This made sure he was involved in the play and was also designed to exploit Croatia's lack of a fixed holding midfielder. This, of course, was the story of that first goal -- Neymar finding space down the middle of the pitch to run and slip a superbly placed left-footed shot in off the post."
Rewatched the game. Oscar did play well for the most part, but man he is largely responsible for that goal by Croacia. Absolutely no hustle to cover for Dani. Wow. My coach would bench you for that.
Fred was offsides when the ball was being played to Oscar. So the call was wrongly made on Oscar and Fred was not involved in the play as he was in the box and Oscar was wide left.
Holland impressive, Spain showing its age and vulnerability (I love it!); let's hope this score holds then Chile beats them too. It would be wonderful to see Spain go 3 and out. Mercenary dirty player Diego Costa should have been sent off. He was subbed now. Good riddance, Judas. LOL, not in my wildest dreams I was expecting such a demolition of Spain. This puts in perspective the unhappiness of some of us with Brazil's shaky start. I'd rather beat Croatia 3-1 with or without a fake penalty, than be humiliated 5-1. Eat dust, Spain! Eat dust, Diego Costa!
This. Can't wait to watch the game when I get home. While anything is possible, it's hard to see how Spain recovers from this psychologically.
Fred explaining that in his view, it was a penalty: http://esportes.terra.com.br/futebo...ica-da-estreia-foi-penalti-claro,7485334.html