Brazil win but “Jogo Feo” returns
Here are the positives from today’s victory for Brazil:
- Ronaldo scored again broke Gerd Muller’s record for World Cup goals - he beat the offside trap and ran(!) through to score
- Adriano scored as well (although it should have been disallowed for offside)
- Kaka and Ze Roberto continue to play well
- They played badly yet won 3-0.
Now here are some negatives:
- The performance against Japan was a pleasant parenthesis - “Jogo Feo” seems to be the norm when the game is on the line
- In the absence of Robinho, the team lacks movement
- Ronaldinho looks burnt out and is performing nothing like he did for Barcelona
- Their defending continues to look chaotic and while this has always been the case for Brazil, they usually compensate for this in attack but not this time.
The problem is that while it is possible to add to the list of negatives, it’s hard to add to the list of positives. It’s just not the Brazil, we know, expect and love to watch!
Of course, how Brazil play is not only up to Brazil and like Australia and Croatia before them Ghana caused Brazil a number of problems. They created numerous chances, but their achilles heal was their finishing once again with Gyan and Amoah guilty of missing numerous opportunities. It was this combined with their naive defensing which ultimately cost them claiming a famous scalp. Ronaldo, Adriano and Ze Roberto all scored by beating the offside trap. So as Africa’s last representative goes out, the enigma continues: are Brazil just playing badly or are they overrated?
