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David Luiz, de la selección de Brasil, es consolado por Thiago Silva después del juego entre Brasio y Alemania en Belo Horizonte, Brasil. Alemania goleó a Brasil 7-1. Ahora, Brasil quiere redimirse ganando la Copa América a jugharse pronto en Chile.
Brazil’s David Luiz is consoled by teammate Thiago Silva after the match between Brazil and Germany in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Germany beat Brazil 7-1. Now, Brazil wnar redemption winning the Copa America in Chile very soon.
SAO PAULO — It is said that the Copa America never cared too much about Brazil. Things, however, are different this time, when the Chile tournament looms as a first step on the road to redemption after the spectacle from the last World Cup.
Five-time world champions, the Brazilians have won the continental title just eight times, compared with Uruguay’s 15 and Argentina’s 14. In Brazil, the Copa America doesn’t have the same luster as in the rest of the continent.
But Brazilians would give anything to win this year and start to erase the bad taste left by the 7-1 loss to Germany in the semifinals of a World Cup played at home, followed by another 3-0 blow against the Netherlands for the third spot.
Brazil’s new coach, Dunga, who called only eight of the players who were at the World Cup, says that we shouldn’t dramatize.
“What happened in the World Cup was something isolated. Everyone talks about the need to restore respect, but Brazilian football is still admired everywhere, the Brazilian jersey is still being coveted a lot,“ he said. “The pressure to win will always exist in Brazil. The national team must remain competitive and winning at any cost.“
Dunga started off right after replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari, who was blamed for much of the disaster at the World Cup, and the team arrives at the Copa America with eight straight wins, including victories over France, Argentina, Colombia and Chile.
In these duels the team scored 18 goals and was scored only two. But Dunga doesn’t want to create expectations.
“We are still not at the level we would like to be,” Dunga said. “We are very demanding, perfectionists, we always want to be the best. For that we must continue to improve.“
Brazil still has Neymar, who was injured in the middle of the World Cup and was not in the semifinals or the match for third place. Without him, the team collapsed.
“We hope Neymar keeps playing as well as he did in the national team and as he’s doing in Barcelona,” said Dunga, who was a rather rustic midfielder, but as a coach shows a slightly more attacking style than Scolari, while always maintaining a balance between all the lines.
The coach surprised by convening Robinho, a cornerstone of the verdeamarela team that won the Copa America the last time in 2007, under Dunga’s wing. Robinho was the top scorer of the tournament in Venezuela and was elected the best player of the competition.
In his first step as a coach for the national team, the team played well in the 2010 World Cup before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by the Netherlands and it deployed an attacking soccer in the 2011 Copa America.
Unlike Scolari, he does not use a center-forward, as did his predecessor with Fred in Brazil 2014, but prefers fast players, who impose an intense pace. Brazil will go to Chile without a pure 9, but will attack with the likes of Neymar, Robinho and Diego Tardelli, who start from a little further back.
At the rear will continue Paris Saint Germain defenders David Luiz and Thiago Silva, who could not avoid the catastrophe of the World Cup, but the midfield will miss Oscar, ruled out with a muscle injury suffered against Chelsea.
Neymar may not be available to debut as Barcelona will play the final of the Champions League on June 6 in Berlin.
Brazil debuts against Peru on the 14th in Group C, completed by Colombia and Venezuela.
Dunga said he was glad that Neymar was playing the final of the Champions League “because it’s always good to have players who arrive motivated. It’s not ideal for our preparation, but that’s the way things are.“
The team starts its final rally on June 1st and has scheduled friendlies against Mexico, on the 7th and Honduras on the 10th.