Brazil in the World Cup 2010

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We already know the roster of the 23 Brazilian players who will be in South Africa.

Dunga didn’t announce the list of the 11 players who will start playing the first match against North Korea, but it is not difficult to tell that they will be:

Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Juan and Michel Bastos; Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Elano and Kaka; Robinho and Luis Fabiano.

This is the team which has been training together since Brazil arrived in South Africa.

This is almost exactly the same lineup which started the last friendly match against Ireland, with the sole difference of Elano in place of Ramirez (Elano has more experience, and is one of the experts in free kicks).

This is nearly the same lineup which started the match against Argentina in the Qualifying, in September 2009; the only difference is that Juan was injured then, and Luisão was his substitute.

This is nearly the same lineup of the team which finished the last match of the Confederation Cup, in June 2009; the only difference (besides Juan vs. Luisão) is Daniel Alves in place of Michel Bastos (actually, this is probably the only doubt in Dunga’s mind).

That’s it. Dung always said that there will be no surprises: he would go with the team which has been prepared since 2007. So far, he kept to his promises, and there are no reasons to believe he will change now.

If Brazil wins the World Cup 2010, each Brazilian player will have a cash prize of R$ 1,000,000.00, which, by current rates, would be exchanged by a bit more than US$ 500,000 or a bit more than € 400,000.

Is that plenty or little?

Today, minimum wage in Brazil is R$ 550 per month. So, a worker in Brazil who gets minimum wage would have to work more than 150 years to get that much of money.  That makes R$ 1,000,000.00 look like a lot of money.

However, several players in Brazil are paid more than a million dollars per year; sponsors of the Brazil team pay millions and millions per year; FIFA pays about US$ 30 million to the country who wins the World Cup. After winning the European Champions League, each player of Inter Milan was paid € 300,000.  Thinking that way, US$ 500,000 or € 400,000 don’t look too impressive.

However, it is unlikely that any Brazilian player complain about that.

First, because several players seem to be thankful just for being in the team. There was a strong popular clamor for coach Dunga to leave out players like Josue, Felipe Melo and Elano and call up Ronaldinho, Ganso, Neymar instead.

Second, because all players know that they would be accused of being anti-patriotic or mercenaries. In the 1990 World Cup, all Brazilian players agreed that the prize proposed by CBF was too small, and posed for a photo with their hands covering the sponsor brand; it ended up that that team had one of the worst performances ever.

Most Brazilian players arrived today in Curitiba, where they will be training until May 26th, when they fly to South Africa (only three players are still to arrive: Julio Cesar, Maicon and Lucio, who will play the final of the Champions League tomorrow).

Curitiba (one of the host cities of the World Cup 2014) was chosen for this last stage of preparation in Brazil thanks to its climate, which is similar to Johannesburg’s, where Brazil will stay.

These first days of the preparation, the busiest person of the Brazilian team (and the one most listened to) will be José Luiz Runco (photo), official doctor of the staff.

Two players have deserved more attention: Luis Fabiano and Kaká. Fabiano got injured two weeks ago, and was saved from playing with his team, Sevilla, last weekend. Kaká has been suffering from a pubis lesion which, even though he says to be healed, also kept him out of the last matches.

Doctor Runco, however, affirmed that, after preliminary observations, all Brazilian players are in good physical conditions.

In the past ten World Cups (since 1970), it was only in 1990 that at least one player wasn’t dismissed from the Brazilian team because of physical problems (see a list here).

In 1998, Romário had a lesion in the calf; despite all effort to heal it (Romário had been the star of the 1994 champion team, and all time was given to him), Romário was eventually dismissed (see Romário crying before the cameras), and Emerson was called to replace him. Ironically, in 2002, it was Emerson who got injured during a training in Korea, and Ricardinho was called to replace him. In 2006, it was Edmilson who got injured, and Mineiro was his substitute.

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Em português:
Uniforme do Brasil

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Final list of Brazil players in the World Cup 2010:

Goalkeepers:
Julio Cesar (Internazionale Milan)
Gomes (Tottenham)
Doni (Roma)

Wings:
Maicon (Internazionale Milan)
Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Gilberto (Cruzeiro)
Michel Bastos (Lyon)

Defense:
Lucio (Internazionale Milan)
Juan (Roma)
Luisão (Benfica)
Thiago Silva (Milan)

Midfielders:
Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos)
Felipe Melo (Juventus)
Josué (Wolfsburg)
Kleberson (Flamengo)
Elano (Galatasaray)
Ramires (Benfica)
Kaká (Real Madrid)
Julio Baptista (Roma)

Forward:
Luís Fabiano (Sevilla)
Robinho (Santos)
Nilmar (Villarreal)
Grafite (Wolfsburg)

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Read also: Netherlands in the World Cup 2014.

Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond : Royal Netherlands Football Association.

Main players: Arjen Robben (main striker of Bayern Munich) and Joris Mathijsen.

FIFA ranking (April 2010): #3

The Dutch Team finished first in their Group of the European Qualifying 2010, with a flawless campaign of eight winnings in eight matches, against Norway, Scotland, Macedonia and Iceland.

Holland is seed of Group E and will play the first three matches against Denmark (June 14th), Japan (June 19th) and Cameroon (June 24th).

Holland players for World Cup 2010:

Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Sander Boschker (Twente), Michel Vorm (Utrecht)

Defense: Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart/Germany), Edson Braafheid (Celtic/Scotland), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Everton/England), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg/Germany), Andre Ooijer (PSV), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax)

Midfield: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV), Otman Bakkal (PSV), Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Wout Brama (Twente), Orlando Engelaar (PSV), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City/England), David Mendes da Silva (AZ Alkmaar), Stijn Schaars (AZ Alkmaar), Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan/Italy), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid/Spain), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax)

Forward: Ryan Babel (Liverpool/England), Eljero Elia (Hamburgo/Germany), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Milan/Italy), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool/England), Jeremain Lens (AZ Alkmaar), Robin van Persie (Arsenal/England), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)

Coach: Mark van Bommel (former Holland team player).

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Federação Portuguesa de Futebol : Portugal Football Federation.

Main players: Cristiano Ronaldo (FIFA Player of the Year 2008).

FIFA ranking (April 2010): #4

Portugal finished second after the first round the European Qualifying. In their (very tough) group, Portugal finished behind Denmark and ahead of Sweden, Hungary, Albania and Malta; in the play off, Portugal won the two matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Portugal is in Group G of the World Cup 2010, and will play the first three matches against Ivory Coast (June 15th), North Korea (June 21st) and Brazil (June 25th).

Portugal team for the World Cup 2010:

Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Braga), Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis/Greece), Beto (Porto).

Defense: Miguel (Valencia/Spain), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea/England), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea/England), Bruno Alves (Porto), Rolando (Porto), Ricardo Costa (Lille/France), Duda (Malaga/Spain), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica).

Midfield: Pedro Mendes (Sporting), Pepe (Real Madrid/Spain), Ze Castro (Deportivo/Spain), Tiago (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Deco (Chelsea/England), Raul Meireles (Porto), Miguel Veloso (Sporting).

Forward: Simão Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Danny (Zenit St Petersburg/Russia), Liedson (Sporting), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen/Germany), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Spain), Nani (Manchester United/England).

Coach: Carlos Queiróz.

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Federazione Italiana Gioco Calcio : Italian Federation of Football.

Main players: Fabio Cannavaro (FIFA Player of the Year 2006), Gianluigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso. All three players were champions of the World Cup 2006, which indicates that Italy has an aging team; it looks like the Champion of a World Cup tends to keep most players to the next Cup, something which happened to France in 2002 and Brazil in 2006. The only country which managed to win two consecutive Cups, keeping the same team basis (with older players), was Brazil, winner of 1958 and 1962.

FIFA ranking (April  2010): #5

Italy finished first of their group in the European Qualifying for the World Cup 2010, ahead of Ireland, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro and Georgia.

Italy is in Group F of the World Cup 2010, and will play the first three matches against Paraguay (June 14th), New Zealand (June 20th) and Slovakia (June 24th).

Italy players for World Cup 2010:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo).

Defense: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Fabio Grosso (Juventus), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan).

Midfield: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Juventus), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (Milan).

Forward: Marco Borriello (Milan), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal).

Coach: Marcelo Lippi; these words of his: best players don’t always make up the best team could very well have been said by Brazilian coach Dunga.

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FFF: Fédération Française de Football.

Main players: Thierry Henry (who scored the goal which put Brazil out of the World Cup 2006) and Franck Ribery (main responsible for taking Bayern Munich to the final of the Euro Champions League 2010).

FIFA ranking (April 2010): #8

France finished second in the first round of the European Qualifying, second to Serbia. France then had to go to a play-off against Ireland; France won the first match and was loosing the second one, until Henry scored an irregular goal and France qualified.

France will be in Group A of the World Cup 2010, and will play the first three matches against Uruguay (June 11th), Mexico (June  17th) and South Africa (June 22nd). France was not considered a seed for the drawing of groups (Netherlands took their place) but, luckly, was drawn to play against the weaker of the seeds, South Africa.

France team roster for the World Cup 2010:

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Olympique de Marseille), Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux), Mickael Landreau (Lille)

Defense: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal/England), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/England), William Gallas (Arsenal/England), Eric Abidal (Barcelona/Spain), Rod Fanni (Rennes), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla/Spain), Adil Rami (Lille), Marc Planus (Bordeaux), Gael Clichy (Arsenal/England), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)

Midfield: Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid/Spain), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/England), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Abou Diaby (Arsenal/England), Yann M’Vila (Rennes)

Forward: Thierry Henry (Barcelona/Spain), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea/England), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse), Franck Ribery (Bayern de Munique), Sidney Govou (Lyon), Djibril Cisse (Panathinaikos/Greece), Hatem Ben Arfa (Olympique de Marseille), Mathieu Valbuena (Olympique de Marseille), Jimmy Briand (Rennes)

Coach: Raymond Domenech.

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Asociatión del Fútbol Argentino.

Main players: Lionel Messi (FIFA player of the year 2009); in recent World Cups, though, the countries with the Player of the Year have not been successful.

FIFA ranking (April 2010): #9.

Argentina finished 4th in the South America Qualifying, behind Brazil, Chile and Paraguay; more than the aprehension with not qualify, what Argentina felt most, due to Historic rivalry, was to be beaten by Brazil by 3 x 0 playing at home.

Argentina will be in Group B of World Cup 2010, and will play the first three matches against Nigeria (June 12th), South Korea (June 17th) and Greece (June 22nd).

Argentina Team roster for World Cup 2010:

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar/Holland), Mariano Andujar (Catania/Italy), Diego Pozo (Colon)

Defense: Gabriel Heinze (Olympique de Marseille), Martin Demichelis (Bayern de Munique), Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield), Walter Samuel (Inter de Milão), Juan Insaurralde (Newell’s Old Boys), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes de La Plata), Nicolas Burdisso (Roma/Italy), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle/England), Ariel Garce (Colon)

Midfield: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool/England), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Angel Di Maria (Benfica/Portugal), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina/Italy), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes de La Plata), Jose Sosa (Estudiantes de La Plata), Javier Pastore (Palermo/Italy), Jesus Datolo (Olympiakos/Greece), Juan Mercier (Argentinos Juniors), Sebastian Blanco (Lanus), Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool/England)

Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Spain), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid/Spain), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City/England), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Diego Milito (Inter de Milão/Italy), Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli/Italy)

Coach: Diego Maradona. Maradona is the undisputed best player in History of Argentina. His career as coach, however, has been very controversial; some in Argentina say he is the worst coach ever.

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READ: USA Team in the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014.

U.S. Soccer Federation.

Main players: Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey.

FIFA ranking (April 2010): #16. The USA Men’s Team gained many points for being runner up of the Confederations Cup 2009; US lost to Brazil in the final match, after winning then favorite Spain in the semi-final. It is also interesting to notice that the USA Women’s Team is usually at the top spot of Women’s FIFA ranking.

USA finished first in the last round of the North America Qualifying for the World Cup 2010, ahead of Mexico, Honduras, and Costa Rica.

USA will be in Group C of World Cup 2010, and will play the first three matches against England (June 12nd), Slovenia (June 18th) and Algeria (June 23rd).

USA Team roster for the World Cup 2010:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/England), Tim Howard (Everton/England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton/England)

Defense: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes/France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas/Mexico), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover/Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford/England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start/Norway), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Milan/Italy), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham/England)

Midfield: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers/Scotland), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro/Sweden), Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach/Germany), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham/England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers/Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus/Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton/England), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Jos Torres (Pachuca/Germany)

Forward: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal/Spain), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla/Mexico), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessalonica/Greece)

Coach: Bob Bradley.

READ: USA Team in the FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil.