The Only Good That Can Come
The only good that can come of this result is that no one will ever again believe in the theories of Carlos Alberto Parreira. Never again will Brazil field a World Cup team of players based on their performances in the past. Never again will Brazil play in the hopes that the players can recapture their past glories.
Why was Adriano in Germany and not on some beach in the Pacific? Certainly not because of his play in the last six months. The same goes for Roberto Carlos and Cafu. And Emerson, and so on...
How many players, who weren't named Pelé, have ever "retired" from international play? The answer is none, if we don't count Romário (whose "retirement" was as much of a joke as he is these days). So why did Parreira have to change things?
Parreira didn't make Brazil any more "sophisticated," or whatever he called it. (He speaks something like eight languages, and Portuguese surely isn't his favorite among them.) He is one of the many Brazilians who wishes that he were American/European, and it showed in his teams' style. And that singular/plural isn't a mistake -- his 1994 team and his 2006 team were the same -- they tried to play just ever so slightly better than their opponents. In 1994 it worked, in 2004 it worked (Copa America), in 2005 it worked (Confederations Cup) and in 2006 it failed miserably.
Adriano was on the team because he played well in the Confederations' Cup. Which is very nice, but what, exactly, did he do for Inter in the last six months? If the answer is nothing, which it is, then why was he invited to Germany as something other than a spectator? Parreira cares much, much more about a players' name than his actual performance. And today we saw how badly that can backfire.
At their very best, Parreira's teams are constructed to play ever so slightly better than their opponents. At their worst, well, we saw that today, didn't we? Why not let the players play? Could the result be worse? Brazil is not a country that is satisfied with a trip to the quarter-finals.
What has Adriano done in the last year? What has Big Fat Ron done in the same time (aside from second place in Spain)? What the hell has Parreira done? Does he think Brazil is inhabited by the English, who would content themselves (hell, they would shit their pants and call it perfume) if they could only win a continental trophy? He probably wishes that were the case.
There are good Brazilian coaches. The best is named Emerson Leão (and I am only slightly biased because he won the national championship with Sport). His particular problem is that when he was Brazil's coach (he left Sport to assume the position) he claimed that the CBF gave him a sheet of paper with ten or so names on it and told him that the next thirteen were his to name. Given the myriad scandals associated with his successor, Wanderly Luxemburgo (or something like that -- he didn't know how to spell his own name [true story]), it's impossible not to believe Leão.
We have seen the ignominious end to the international careers of Ronaldão O Ex-Fenômeno, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Lúcio, Emerson, Zé Roberto, and most likely more (Adriano, Gilberto Silva, and -- sadly -- Juninho). At least we have seen the end of Parreira as well.
Why was Adriano in Germany and not on some beach in the Pacific? Certainly not because of his play in the last six months. The same goes for Roberto Carlos and Cafu. And Emerson, and so on...
How many players, who weren't named Pelé, have ever "retired" from international play? The answer is none, if we don't count Romário (whose "retirement" was as much of a joke as he is these days). So why did Parreira have to change things?
Parreira didn't make Brazil any more "sophisticated," or whatever he called it. (He speaks something like eight languages, and Portuguese surely isn't his favorite among them.) He is one of the many Brazilians who wishes that he were American/European, and it showed in his teams' style. And that singular/plural isn't a mistake -- his 1994 team and his 2006 team were the same -- they tried to play just ever so slightly better than their opponents. In 1994 it worked, in 2004 it worked (Copa America), in 2005 it worked (Confederations Cup) and in 2006 it failed miserably.
Adriano was on the team because he played well in the Confederations' Cup. Which is very nice, but what, exactly, did he do for Inter in the last six months? If the answer is nothing, which it is, then why was he invited to Germany as something other than a spectator? Parreira cares much, much more about a players' name than his actual performance. And today we saw how badly that can backfire.
At their very best, Parreira's teams are constructed to play ever so slightly better than their opponents. At their worst, well, we saw that today, didn't we? Why not let the players play? Could the result be worse? Brazil is not a country that is satisfied with a trip to the quarter-finals.
What has Adriano done in the last year? What has Big Fat Ron done in the same time (aside from second place in Spain)? What the hell has Parreira done? Does he think Brazil is inhabited by the English, who would content themselves (hell, they would shit their pants and call it perfume) if they could only win a continental trophy? He probably wishes that were the case.
There are good Brazilian coaches. The best is named Emerson Leão (and I am only slightly biased because he won the national championship with Sport). His particular problem is that when he was Brazil's coach (he left Sport to assume the position) he claimed that the CBF gave him a sheet of paper with ten or so names on it and told him that the next thirteen were his to name. Given the myriad scandals associated with his successor, Wanderly Luxemburgo (or something like that -- he didn't know how to spell his own name [true story]), it's impossible not to believe Leão.
We have seen the ignominious end to the international careers of Ronaldão O Ex-Fenômeno, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Lúcio, Emerson, Zé Roberto, and most likely more (Adriano, Gilberto Silva, and -- sadly -- Juninho). At least we have seen the end of Parreira as well.
posted by Venha Futuro at 10:57 PM
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