Football ‘world order’ is changing, says Brazil coach
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Brazil coach Dorival Junior speaks during a press conference in Rio de Janeiro ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Uruguay.
PHOTO: AFP
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SAO PAULO – The “world order” of football is shifting, Brazil’s coach Dorival Junior said ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Venezuela on Nov 14 (Nov 15 morning, Singapore time).
While pressure has been alleviated by his team beating Chile (2-1) and Peru (4-0) in the October double-header, the 62-year-old warned that they, like Argentina, had to recognise they earlier lost ground to previously easier opponents.
“I don’t think we’ll have an easy game. Forget Venezuela, Bolivia recently. Right now the world order is changing a lot,” Dorival said on Nov 13.
“South American football has grown a lot overall. If you look at the majority of the national line-ups, you see players playing in teams all over the world, which wasn’t the case until recently.
“The top teams haven’t had as much room to grow, while the teams at the bottom are starting to make interesting and big strides. This is levelling things a lot and making the matches tighter contests.”
Brazil are still being forged under his watch, meaning their performance will “fluctuate” while that is being worked out, he added. But he believes they are heading towards becoming a “safe, strong and balanced team”.
After a bad start in the qualifiers, losing half of their initial eight games in South America, Brazil swung back to beat Chile and Peru and are fourth in the table with 16 points after 10 matches.
The top six South American teams directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Brazil sit six points behind current leaders Argentina.
“We’re not in a totally favorable situation, we’re coming from behind... (but) we’re gaining a greater sense of greater structure in the team,” Dorival said.
After the game against Venezuela, Brazil are to play Uruguay on Nov 19.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, meanwhile, is confident there will be Lionel Messi jerseys in the home section despite the Paraguayan Football Association’s (APF) ban on rival shirts ahead of their qualifier on Nov 14.
Argentina will play Paraguay at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion, and the APF has warned the home crowd to wear only Paraguayan shirts as no jerseys from Argentina, Argentine clubs or clubs that contain the names of players from other countries will be allowed.
However, Scaloni said the global impact of Argentina’s No. 10, the country’s all-time leading scorer and World Cup winner, is far greater.
“Logically, for the Paraguayan footballer, for the fan, they all want to wear the national team shirt. But Leo is stronger than all that and there will be Argentina shirts,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean they don’t support Paraguay. I think it’s good that football people recognise what he is.” AFP, REUTERS
