Brazil beats Mexico but there is louder message in Italy blasting Japan

Neymar is pure class and very much immature. He has a lot to learn and some distance to cover to the levels of Lionel Messi. That is as far as the over game is concerned but his technique is exquisite. Tactically he will surely mature and be a better player, hopefully. He reminds one of the young 'Iron' Mike Tyson, Raw and Uncut.

It is sometimes too early for these youngsters to get then hype and then they live under the shadow of expectation under-delivering yet being idolised like Wayne Rooney, whose roof was never reached and he stagnated in growth but we keep singing praises for his glimpses of a what might have been.

Brazil beat Mexico despite a spirited performance of one of my favourite players in the world today (well since 2009), Giovanni Dos Santos. It was that pure class of the 21 year old Neymar that was hugely the difference. Dani Alves received a pass after some fancy footwork on the right, delivered a cross that was deflected high.
Now, this is the coaching point part.

Neymar had to orient himself to locate the goal, and his bearing changed every second as his target had a barrier, the goalkeeper. There was men attending to him and hungering for the same ball. The Brazilian had to make his run, simultaneously keeping his eyes on the ball whose trajectory was not completely defined. Despite physical contact that could put him off, he gained his balance, arms wide, making a good selection of the controlling surface, shepherding the ball into space with his chest, planting the non-kicking football slightly behind the possible dropping point of the ball, curling his body over to lean forward and hitting that ball hard midway through its centre at the top half. His angle and power had to be right and the rest is history.

That goal can be crudely mirror-imaged with the first of the tournament, where that came from his left, but was chested by a team-mate onto his path. He cannoned the ball, then with his right foot. The technique of striking the ball was wholly similar. Hi move to Barcelona has made people start talking about his combination with Messi but bot because of the goals.

Neymar received the ball on the left and quickly left a defender by his first positive touch, sweeping past the other two by his acceleration before his sudden change of pace and direction in the box left two more defenders for dead. He laid the ball across for Jo to finish. That was class. That was the match in brief. It is the speed and finish that is frightening and with Messi, that will be more than a job and a half to contain an attack.     

Many people did not see Japan beating Italy. That changed with the first penalty of the match converted by Honda and the spectacular Kagawa special. Frankly, it was not the goals that swayed the votes, but the gusty performance that was full of self belief and zeal to win. The Italians were themselves more than surprised. They were afraid, very afraid. With half-time approaching, anyone stopping Pirlo and Mario Balotelli could be excused for celebrating but that was a little too much too early.

Pirlo sent in a corner kick that was converted by the head. From there on, thing were never going to be the same for the Asians. Some players thought they could do it while others thought, maybe not. Even from the same positive players, the doubts start to fly in the head and that is exactly what the Europeans thrive on.
The penalty converted by Balotelli and the own goal wrote the beginning of the end of a Cinderella story in the making. That winner was always coming after that and it was more than a win but a statement to say Italy mean business. For many, they were dead and burried, and maybe so, but if they can rise to see another day be very afraid.

It was value for money to see so many goals but the Neymar strike, priceless!

Brazil's 3-0 win over Japan is total fluke

Brazil may as well be on course to win this year’s Confederation Cup and Fifa World Cup double. This is in sharp contrast with their fluke 3-0 win over Japan last night. Let me say first why that win was a fluke and then the reason why they may win both trophies.

The victory was courtesy of total naivety of the Asians, and nothing to do with the prowess of the Confed Cup holding gladiators. All the goals were scored in the concentration-lapse windows of minutes after and before restarts. In any case, it was within the parameters of the match being played and all goals count. On another day and at another time, the same goals, all three, could have been easily scored by anyone or by the same token, avoided.

That is not what one expects from Brazil. The Celestiao are known to push the ball around and dominate their matches until they subdue their foes tactically - exactly what did not happen. The South Americans depended on the stage fright of the Japanese for that victory.

Japan walked in there hoping to take matters easy and then compete when the match was ripe. They did not live to see that moment. Before half the team had touched the ball, there was a goal. It was a super goal by Neymar, given the inexperience of the youngster and accuracy of the strike, but how it came by was shocking.

A case of easy loss of possession by Japan and a poor ‘chest’ control by Fred, probably a handball, led the ball to drop in the path of a charging Barcelona-bound Neymar who took a volley in his stride, connecting well to unleash a slightly curled shot to the far post from outside the box.

Let me spare you the details. The thing is, it was just 3 minutes after kick-off. There was sterility in terms of goals and performance until half-time. Again, within 3 minutes of the restart, Japan were still sleeping and Brazil pounced. Without duplicating myself, there was sterility in terms of goals and performance until full-time, the 90^th minute. Again, Japan slumbered and Brazil, again pounced in almost 3 minutes of injury time.

Both sets of coaching stuff will not be happy. Fillipe Scolari of Brazil will be wondering; what if the visitors stayed awake from start to finish. The visitors’ mentor will curse his theory of playing a waiting game. He had hoped to match Brazil’s play in the middle of the park but the ball was played on the periphery of the Garrencha Stadium pitch.

Just for a picture, the ball came from the right, the position of Dani Alves, to Julio Ceaser and/or David Luiz, to Marcelo on the left and then Neymar to Fred at the front and then to Oscar on the left and Dani Alves again, leaving a void in the middle. That sequence would reverse itself once in a while all night, eliminating Honda and Kagawa's performance, Japan’s most influential players.

That fact makes Brazilians very dangerous. They are not blessed with an array of talent and many of their current squad players are over-rated, save for Marcelo, Alves and David Luiz. I know you think Oscar is top-notch but I don’t buy that; not yet. Julio Ceaser plays for a relegated team in the English Premiership and that is not a world-class performer. Therefore, what makes them an item?

It is the composition of their technical team. Scolari has decades of national team and international football experience in his time with the same team, Portugal and Chelsea. He has a Fifa World Cup medal around his neck. What he did was exceptionally clever and courageous, to romp up an even more experienced mentor in Carlos Alberto Parreira. For the sake of his status, they changed his title to Technical Coordinator and not Assistant coach. Parriera is the most experienced coach in the world at this level, having more Fifa World Cup appearances than any coach and a winners’ medal too.

Besides the accolades and the decorated CVs, these guys are shrewd. They are the world’s best. Not that they can make cows play football, but with the average players they have, Brazil is genuine contenders for the historic double. They become the last team anyone would choose to play. It would be a bonus if Neymar comes to the party as he almost did last night. There are good signs he will.

Besides the home soil advantage with their fans’ support, the carnival atmosphere and celebrations, the familiar playing grounds, family and friends and language, the pride, the status, players like Neymar trying to prove a point, that technical team of Scolari and Parreira with the richcombined experiences and World Cup appearances and victories, the Brazil brand is one to bank on.

This is besides the crazy statistical data of Fifa World Cups, Confed, and regional championships, nor the over 10000 professionals playing overseas, 6000 football teams and over 16 million registered players they can choose from their starting eleven. There is over 160 million Brazilians anyway but that is just numbers too.