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Thursday June 25, 2009

Confed Cup: Brazil expect torrid time from the hosts in the semis

JOHANNESBURG: Brazil are expecting a hard time in the Confederations Cup semi-final match against a fully motivated South Africa.

The Brazilians know they are entering the match as the favourites, but they also know they will have to be extra careful against a team who are playing at home and have nothing to lose.

“They have no responsibility to win. If they lose to Brazil it’s a normal result,” striker Luis Fabiano said on Tuesday. “And if they win it’s going to be a holiday in South Africa. They have no pressure.”

South Africa avoided disappointment after barely advancing from the group stage of the World Cup warm-up tournament, but now much of the pressure is off, and a victory against the five-time world champions will likely be considered a bonus instead of an obligation.

Brazil have to avoid an upset today at Ellis Park to keep alive their hopes of winning their second consecutive Confederations Cup title.

Fooling around: South African players clowning around with Matthew Booth (right) during a training session at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg. South Africa will face Brazil in the semi-final of the Confederations Cup today. — AP

The Brazilians had the day off on Monday and underwent light training on Tuesday. The regular starters worked out at a gym and the reserves played the Under-17 team of local club Kaizer Chiefs.

South Africa are coming off a 2-0 loss to Spain, while Brazil are boosted by two consecutive 3-0 wins over the United States and world champion Italy.

“We can’t think that it’s going to be easier to play against South Africa because they have less tradition than Italy,” Brazil left back Andre Santos said.

“We can’t be fooled by that, each team has its quality. Being the host country, we know they will come out playing very hard against us.

“We can’t underestimate anybody.”

Brazil are also worried about the advantage the South Africans may have because of coach Joel Santana, a Brazilian who understands the country’s football very well.

“They are motivated and they have a Brazilian coach who knows a lot about our team,” Andre Santos said.

“It’s going to be very difficult for us.”

Santana coached Dunga when the Brazilian played for Vasco da Gama in 1987, and he was in Brazil coaching Flamengo just before taking the offer to lead the South Africans at the Confederations Cup and next year’s World Cup, also in South Africa.

Santana and the South African players have been saying they want to repeat the example of Egypt, who played well against Brazil in a last-minute loss in the teams’ opener and then beat Italy 1-0.

“We had a tough first match but it was a different situation,” Brazil captain Lucio said. “We had just arrived in South Africa. Now we are more adapted to everything here and had time to rest.”

It will be only the third match between Brazil and South Africa. The teams played two friendlies in Johannesburg, with Brazil coming out victorious 3-2 in 1996 and 2-1 in 1997.

Today, Brazil coach Dunga will not be able to count on defender Juan, who sustained a muscle injury in his left leg against Italy and is out of the Confederations Cup. — AP

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