Brazil in the World Cup 2010

Today, March 2nd, Brazil won Ireland by 2 x 0, in the Emirates Stadium, in London. This was a friendly match, one of the several matches that CBF uses to make some cash.

The photo above shows the starting line-up:

Maicon, Gilberto Silva, Julio Cesar (GK), Juan, Adriano and Lucio (C); Ramirez, Robinho, Kaká, Michel Bastos and Felipe Melo.

Robinho was the player of the match (he scored one goal – see video below).

The match was important because, according to Dunga, most of the players in this match will be in South Africa.

Update, May 11th 2010: indeed, all the players who participated of this match will be in South Africa; the team which started playing against Ireland will probably be in the line-up of the first match of Brazil in the World Cup.

A few weeks ago, coach Dunga announced the roster of the Brazilian team to play the last friendly match before the World Cup 2010, against Ireland; the match will be tomorrow, March 2nd, in London.

Today, for the first time, Dunga spoke about that roster. In an interview, journalists asked questions about several players who are missing from that list, such as Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Alexandre Pato, Diego and others.

Dunga answered that there will be no surprises in the team which will be in South Africa, and he will be loyal to the players who helped qualify Brazil to the Cup.

“Those who conquered the results and knew how to take opportunities in the field know that they are the ones who will be in the World Cup; we have been working for three and a half years”.

“There will be no suprises. Everyone could show what he is capable of. If the World Cup started today, the roster would be that one“.

So, once again, Dunga reafirmed what he said during this interview: he values more the team spirit than pure skill. This time, however, his words gained much more credibility, first because we are now nearing the Cup, and also because he showed that, even in case of an unforeseen change, he prefers any player over Ronaldinho (he called Grafite to replace Luis Fabiano in London).

So, with certainty, one can say: Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Alexandro Pato and other stars will not be in South Africa.