Basil Sylvester Pinto
PANAJI
Talk Brazil and football and it reflects on attractiveness with samba infused into the game. At the first-ever FIFA World Cup to be witnessed in India at the U-17 level, the South American football giants are one of the talking points with its rich legacy across the levels.
Only last year the samba boys were in Goa to participate in the BRICS U-17 Football Cup which they won handsomely against South Africa in the finals, winning 5-1. With the sweet taste of Cup success in the country, they have returned a year hence under gaffer Carlos Amadeu with an aim to add a fourth World Cup title at this level.
Ahead of their mouth-watering first Group D encounter against European powerhouse Spain in Kochi, a confident Brazil U-17 World Cup Coach Carlos Amadeu spoke to ‘The Goan' on his team's chances at the 17th edition of this tournament.
"We are preparing this team since 2015. We have worked hard to arrive here with football that shows the Brazilian style of play. That is what we will try to do and what people are expecting back home," Amadeu said. "We had more than 16 training camps back home. We gave the players football content, but also mental content. Even being young players, they are prepared to show their football in front of this huge crowd."
Brazil are drawn in Group D along with Korea DPR, Niger and Spain. Talking about the competition in the group, the Brazilian coach said, "Not only our group, but the World Cup itself has teams which are equals. We will face Spain, the European champions, an African team with all their continental tradition in this age group, and Korea DPR, a team that we do not have much information of."
Brazil went unbeaten in lifting this year's South American U-17 title, winning seven of their matches and drawing the other two. And the gaffer is aware that there is pressure on his team to maintain the invincibility factor.
"We know that with these numbers, our opponents are studying us more. It will be hard to maintain the invincibility, but we have to fight... There are too many strong teams in this World Cup, and it is really tight. We have the African teams, who have the most number of trophies at this age level, the European teams with such a strong organisation, and also US and Mexico, which are good teams too," Amadeu explained.
The absence of the team's biggest star Vinicius Jr. from the tournament came as a big blow for the Selecao but the coach refused to delve on the issue.
"We have to talk about the players that are here, who I am totally confident about. As for Vinicius Jr., our manager has already spoken about him in Brazil," the coach said.
Brazil face a stiff opponent in Spain first-up in Kochi and Amadeu expects a great game. "We are studying them, as they are looking at us too. I am pretty sure that we will see a really great game on Saturday... Our philosophy is the Brazilian style of football. A strong defence with an objective and a beautiful offensive system. We do not play just for the sake of playing the game," the coach signed off.
