Brazil

Nickname: Selecao (The Selection)
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: 1

Brazil, as always, enter this World Cup as heavy favorites to win it all. Brazil is the only team to have taken part in every World Cup, making this appearance their 19th. With five wins, Brazil also has lifted the cup more times than anyone, and will undoubtedly consider anything other than a sixth trophy a failure.

Brazil was placed in what is arguably the “group of death” alongside Portugal (ranked 3rd), Cote d’Ivoire (ranked 27th) and North Korea (ranked 105th). Brazil will need to be on top of their game because they need to qualify first out of Group G to avoid a possible second round meeting with Spain.

Brazil qualified for the World Cup first in the South American Zone. They began qualification slowly and started receiving lots of criticism from their fans. However, they turned it on and reeled off five straight victories, including a 3-1 win over Argentina in Argentina, something Brazil hadn’t done in 14 years.

Coach

Brazil is coached by longtime popular midfielder Dunga, who was the captain of the Brazil team that won the cup in 1994. Dunga took over in 2006 without any prior coaching experience. Many questioned whether this was a good move, but after leading Brazil to victories in the 2007 Copa America and the 2009 Confederations Cup, fans are coming around. Dunga definitely has plenty of talent at his disposal and a lot of experience as a World Cup player. Dunga emphasizes work ethic and has focused on improving Brazil’s defense. This current team may not play as prettily as former teams, but they are just as talented and dangerous.

Key Players

Brazil has tons of talented players to pay attention to. The list begins with midfield star Kaka. Kaka can create plays seemingly out of nowhere and controls the attacks for this Brazilian side. Usually on the receiving end of Kaka’s passes is forward Luis Fabiano. Fabiano has an incredible knack for finishing but is a very streaky player – he can score a lot of goals when playing well and Brazil will hope he does in June and July.

The defense for Brazil is scary as well. Leading that bunch is central defender Lucio, who also serves as the captain of this team. Lucio is a strong defender with a lot of experience that will be crucial in helping lead a defensive side full of capable players who love to attack. One of those defenders is Maicon, who is an all-around great defender. Maicon is very strong and smart in the backfield, not making many mistakes. He is also very capable of breaking on the counter-attack and scoring. Another dangerous defender on this team is Dani Alves. Alves is talented enough to play in the midfield but typically plays defense while excelling at choosing his moments and going on the attack. The biggest problem Coach Dunga has on defense is that Maicon and Alves both play the same position, so he usually only plays one at a time.

Another key to Brazil’s success is goalie Julio Cesar. Cesar is a great goalie who doesn’t appear to have any weaknesses. Brazil has historically not had good goalies, so for them to have one of Cesar’s talent competing alongside all their playmakers makes them even more dangerous.