Brazil in the World Cup 2010

Brazil and Portugal will play on June 25nd 2010 in Durban. This is going to be third match of each team in the World Cup 2010 (sooner, they both will play against North Korea and Ivory Coast – see groups here).

Brazil and Portugal have faced each other in 18 matches (only 11 countries have more matches against Brazil than Portugal; England, with 23 matches, is the only European country in that list). Brazil won 12 matches, Portugal won 4, and there were 2 draws; Brazil scored 36 goals, Portugal scored 15.

In World Cups, there was only one match, in England 1966. The records of the match are here. The match was in Liverpool on July 19th 1966; the ticket costed £ 2.2, or about US$ 3.5 (in South Africa, a ticket for the eighth finals would cost at least US$ 100; check out prices of tickets of the World Cup 2010). After beating Brazil, Portugal faced and won North Korea, which was then playing their first and only World Cup.

Brazil was then defending champion, but the team was resenting the retirement of the generation which won in 1962 (which was basically the same team which had won in 1958 – older, though) and the new generation which would win in 1970.

Portugal had then Eusébio, considered until today the best Portuguese player ever and one of the best European players. Brazil had Pelé, but he had been injured in previous matches, and still had to face the violence of Portuguese defense.

Despite this defeat (and despite the three centuries of Metropolis-Colony relationship), Brazilians never had a feeling of rivalry towards the Portuguese (as we have, for example, with Argentina, Uruguay and, lately, France).

Several Brazilian players have not only moved to Portugal, but also adopted Portuguese nationality; currently, three Brazilian born players, Deco, Liedson and Pepe, are principals in the Portugal team (which led Brazilian coach Dunga to say that Portugal is a kind of Brazil B – to which Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz responded that Brazil would be a Portugal C or D, given that most Brazilian players have Portuguese ancestry).

In the last World Cup, Portugal was coached by Luis Felipe Scollari, who had been champion with Brazil in 2002. After Brazil was eliminated by France, all Brazilians sided with Portugal (which would also be eliminated by France).

In the last match, in November 2008 in Brazil, we won easily by 6 x 2.

In 2010, Portugal will have the additional advantage of having more support in the stadium (500,000 Portuguese live in South Africa).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 10:12 am and is filed under countries, history, matches, players.