DHAKA: Even the staunchest of Brazil supporter can't be assured that the HEXA mission of Brazil in World 2014 is moving smoothly like a well-oiled machined yet. Scholari brigade have got through four of the seven step required to climb to the heaven. But the samba rhyme that makes Brazilian a thing of beauty and joy forever is yet to be seen.
The young side did not look like losing yet but in their pre quarter final engagement with hot Chile they got wakeup call .Over 90 minutes of the main period and 30 minutes extra time of the very hotly contested match the score sheet showed 1-1.
The match drifted to the lottery of penalty shootout. Superior skills penalty converting combined with better goal keeping skill of Cesar bailed the favorites out of tight hole.
In the quarter final on Friday night against a very fluent Colombia Brazil squad will have another major test of skills, talent and temperament. Against a side in sizzling form that task may not be easy. The prospect of another exciting contest is in view.
Colombia beating Uruguay playing wonderful brand of aggressive football in Maracana stadium very strongly disproved the concern that many experts had about their efforts of running deep in the tournament being severely hampered by Radamel Falcao’s injury, five months before the start of the tournament.
Falcao is one of their leading all-time top scorers and his goals had been crucial in guaranteeing their qualification. How expertly the Colombians have surpassed expectations. They have written a new chapter in their soccer history in reaching the quarter-finals. And now they are threatening to trigger a major upset through beating the hot favorite and host in their own backyard.
The supreme confidence and mobility shown by the Colombian team in advancing to elite group of eight has achieved admiration of many pundits of the game.
Football is neither a pure science nor fine arts but a mix of both. It is so encouraging that the team learned to survive without their star player.
Falcao was their kingpin on their road to Brazil and others were in the supporters’ role. In his absence the entire team lifted their game in a mission a new star is born.
James Rodriguez is the name that is now being uttered almost with the same admiration as Messi of Neymar > How expertly Rodriqguez and Jaun Cuadrado have implemented the engineering plan that the Argentine coach designed to compensate the absence of Falcao.
Colombia meets Brazil on Friday night with the confidence of four wins and very convincing displays.
They have scored 11 goals and conceded only two. In the match against Uruguay they worked the ball well and attacked the with a lot of poise without losing their composure.
Rodríguez impressed immensely. He is one of the most talented players in this World Cup. His passing is sweet and it is really interesting how deceitful he can be: Rodríguez can look absent from the game but can pounce and catch his markers unaware.
Come what may in the game on Friday night, he should feature in the best XI if made on the basis of his sterling performance. One must recognize a midfielder that scores five goals in four matches in a tournament like world cup.
It may sound heart breaking for me as Brazil fan but truly on the basis of sheer merit Colombia must fancy their chances. They must have been encouraged by witnessing how Chile took Brazil to the wire in Belo Horizonte.
However, we have strong belief that the Seleção will play so out of their character twice in a row. Against the Chileans they lacked inspiration and this time Neymar failed to impose himself. He got a whack at the beginning of the game and that hampered his movement a bit, which made it easier for the Chileans to close him down.
Brazil was dominated and put under pressure for long periods of the game. Chile just could not go for the kill as they did against Spain. Possibly they respected Brazil a little too much.
Brazil managed to create a few chances, but these were without a proper game plan. Without any structured attack generated from own defence and flowing through mobile mid field they resorted to long balls to Neymar. The budding genius looked like a little handicapped and his silky movement with the ball was missing.
Brazlian defence made a Scholl boyish mistake in missing the marking and conceded a goal.
Luiz Gustavo with the second yellow card would miss the match. He could be very effective in shutting down operating window to keep Rodríguez at bay. Cuadrado is another player the Brazilians will have to find a strategy to deal with.
Brazil will get wider area to operate against Colombia than they had with Chile. Colombia will attack more and counter attacks Neymar and Co can move more freely and operate in open spaces. Midfield continues to be a major headache for Scholari as they are failing to cut out opponents attacks early and not winning many balls.
Consequently Dani Alvez and David Luiz cannot contribute much in the attack remaining busy in policing their own defence. In the past Brazilian overlapping wing backs used to score used to score almost regularly. This is missing so far.
Brazil really needs to improve a lot and avoid focusing everything on Neymar. He will not be 100% possibly. Colombia will present a different challenge than Chile, for they don’t play such a high pressure game. But with what Rodríguez and co have done so far, they will be looking forward to an upset.
Brazil may not be looking all that convincing yet but an inspired Brazil on a mission can always change everything in their own sweet way.
Engr Khondkar A Saleque Sufi is a NRB Energy Professional and free lance sports Writer, has over four decades of sport writing experience starting from his BUET days in 1970s . He lives in Australia and spends his leisure in writing on Energy & Sports in different International magazines and Journals.
BDST: 1103 HRS, JUL 03, 2014
