Brazil get tough draw in 2010 World Cup group
December 4, 2009
Dunga tries to look confident after hearing Brazil's WC draw
Dunga and co could be in for a tough time in the group stage of the World Cup in South Africa next year. Group G consists of Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea and will not be an easy ride for the South Americans. Brazil kick off their campaign against North Korea in the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg. Their second match sees them take on Ivory Coast – a side that includes Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, YaYa and Kolo Touré. Brazil's final game is against Portugal. In an interview after the draw, the Brazil coach discussed the meeting with Portugal: "it's Brazil against Brazil. Brazil A against Brazil B", he said, referring to the number of nationalized Brazilians playing for the Europeans.
Dunga went on to say: "It's a difficult group. We have to respect all of our opponents … ".
Entry Filed under: Brazil World Cup 2010. Tags: brazil, Brazil World Cup group 2010, Brazilian football, Dunga, Ivory Coast, North Korea 2010, Portugal, World Cup Group G 2010.
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And we're live!
9.25 pm: Thank you for being with us. We hope you enjoyed our 'coverage' 
9.23 pm: Game done, nil-nil. Draw, folks. Portugal finishes second, goes to the next round.
9.20 pm: 2 minutes left. Can Portugal do it?
9.18 pm: 5 minutes of stoppage time. And Eduardo saves another!
9.16 pm: We're calling it – this game is an anti-climax.
9.10 pm: Ten minutes to go, and this game doesn't seem to want to go anywhere.
9.08 pm: A colleague said this would be a 'climax' of an encounter (he used a synonym that we're not mentioning here) – somehow, doesn't seem like it, no?
9.07 pm: The chips are down in the bar – we can't hear anything but the vuvuzelas.
9.03 pm: Ronaldo misses a goal again 
8.56: Some stats – Cote d'Ivoire (Drogba?) needs to score 8 goals (2 scored so far) for Portugal to not qualify for the next round. If this is a nil-nil match, that is.
8.54 pm: Impending heartbreak, people – either for half of the world, or for the entire world.
8.47 pm: Ok, Ronaldo doesn't seem to have many fans here. Meireles misses a sitter, deflected by Cesar – Cesar gets injured and requires medical attention.
8.46 pm: Brilliant shot from Simao and a great save from Cesar!
8.44 pm: Great save by Eduardo! Fabiano's not happy.
8.43 pm: Is this headed for a draw? Tell us!
8.41 pm: Simao replaces Duda.
8.39 pm: Chigateri is not really bothered about who wins tonight – as long as Germany wins the WC, he's fine, he says. Boo!
8.37 pm: Ronaldooooo! Groaaaan. Ronaldoooooooooooo! Groaaaaaaaaaaaaan.
8.24 pm: The crowd is singing along to Waka Waka and Wavin' Flag. It's now Ole Ole time!
8.20: Deepika from Pondicherry is at our table and is cheering for Brazil, because "All Brazilians are hot and sexy!" She likes Ronaldo, too!
8.15 pm: Half-time. A half-pleased Ronaldo walks off the field. Thanks to Portugese goalie Eduardo for some brilliant saves.
8.13 pm: In a very Karan Johare-esque twist, Melo gets a yellow for elbowing Pepe. Bad-refereeing, screams the crowd here. And a minute later, Melo gets replaced by Josue.
8.10 pm: Portugal mid-fielder and former Real Madrid's Pepe gets a yellow card for a foul on Mello. Portugal's 2-1. Yellow card-wise.
8.07 pm: Hahaha! No, Brazil doesn't. Bongopondit on Twitter says: Tiago needs to attend the Italian spring training camps before the World Cup. An amateur effort like that actually deserved a red card.
7.57 pm: Juan of Brazil gets a yellow card for a handball and Duda of Portugal gets the same treatment for protesting. One all.
7.52: Muted lights, loud cheers, wine and beer on the table and football on TV. Could life be better?
7.50 pm: Carol in the comments says Ronaldo is awesome and sxy. We don't know about sexy, hon, but awesome he is!
7.47 pm: Tiago misses a shot and there's a loud groan from the Portuguese half here, mostly women 
7.44 pm: Received an interesting SMS – so this girl asks her boyfriend who she's cheering for – Brazil or Portugal. Girl power!
7.40 pm: A lot of support for Brazil in the comments – the ladies in our team do not agree with you. Portugal!!!!
7.35 pm: Danny Alves of Brazil, known as "The Beast", misses a shot and there are loud cheers from the Portuguese supporters and a collective "Noooooo!" from the Brazil fans! Did we tell you our team is divided too?
7.33 pm: A lovey-dovey couple here are divided in their support for the teams – she supports Brazil and is disappointed that Kaka isn't playing. And the boyfriend swears by Portugal, but isn't too fond of Ronaldo.
7.28 pm: Anthems have been sung and the field is ready for the taking!
7.21 pm: Lohit from Tommy Hilfiger is cheering for Portugal, and thinks Tiago is going to win the match for Portugal tonight! Do you agree?
7.18 pm: Singing along to Wavin' Flag – Shakira, honey, can you bellydance to this song?
7.15 pm: The crowd here seems to be equally divided – the screams for both teams shattered our eardrums!
7.12 pm: The TV tells us that Brazil lineup has Baptista, Alves in the middle and Nilmar playing upfront. Fireworks!
7.07 pm: We've arrived, and the atmosphere here is electric. Though we must say, the music is so loud that we can't hear each other speak!
**********
All right, here we are! Portugal takes on Brazil in one of the highly anticipated clashes of the group stage at WC 2010. Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, on a high after their fashionable win over North Korea, will be eager to produce another winning performance to claim the top spot of Group G.
It will be a welcome opportunity for World Cup favourites Brazil to triumph over their former colonial masters while Portugal will be desperate to better their dismal head-to-head record against the former. Portugal have won only four times in their 18 attempts over the five-time World Cup winners, two of those coming in the last three encounters.
If Brazil wins, they will top the Group of Death and they will be facing the runners-up of group H. However, Ronaldo and men can take it easy as even if they lose and Ivory Coast wins today, Portugal will anyway move to the next round as they enjoy a massive goal advantage over Drogba's Cote d'Ivoire.
Though Brazil could find themselves in a bit of a spot thanks to Kaka's absence, they have Julio Baptista, Daniel Alves, Ramires or Kleberson to play in his place. Plus, all is well as long as 'Mr Dependable' Maicon, who can fire a shot from any range, is there to cover them. However, though the fate of Group G is almost decided, both teams are not going to take any chances here as a win means facing a less threatening team from Group H.
You can never write off the calibre of Portugal. Though they had a sluggish start, they made an awesome comeback by crushing the Korean squad with a massive margin of 7-0. The same happened during the qualifiers also. Plus Cristiano Ronaldo seems to have found his form back and coupled with the brilliance of Tiago, they can crush the 'Canarinhos'. Carlos Queiroz and his men are here to create history and they know no fear, so keep a close watch on Ronaldo's men.
Who will it be? Portugal or Brazil? Tune in as we liveblog the match from one of Bangalore's happening sports bars, Xtreme – comment, tweet, share and join the fun!
Posts
1. Daniel | December 5, 2009 at 17:01
Still think brazil shouldn't have a problem getting through, Portugal have no cutting edge and Ivory coast will be full of heart but cant see them being very well organised.Can't comment on North Korea as no nothing about them which basically means surely brazil can put a few past them! go to get off to a good start against Korea.
Lets hope Dunga makes the right decisions!!
2. davi paulinho | December 5, 2009 at 17:30
If Brasil cannot get past this group, how can be beat Spain, Italy, etc., to win the WC? No one said it would be easy, but the Canaries have the talent, as always, to have as good a chance as anyone. My intuition is for a great WC for Nilmar, who will score the WC winning goal.
3. CJB | December 5, 2009 at 21:34
Well said Paulinho!
I like Dunga's comments, smart.
Hopefully the passion will be instilled in the players and they can go out and win. Dunga likes to play to win but I hope he can mix in a little JOGA BONITO for the Selecao.
I also hope maybe Dunga will call up O Fenomeno for his last time and maybe give Ronaldinho Gaucho a chance…
4. John | December 6, 2009 at 22:15
Doesn't really bother me – think about it this way:
1. Brazil will get adjusted to a high level of competition from the beginning and won't get overconfident or shocked if they get to 2nd round
2. all teams need to go through a tough opponent sometime in the competiton. if you plan to win it all, then you have to be ready to play against good teams. If you lose in the first round, there's no complaining and saying "my team could've won the title if it wasn't for the group stages." Similarly, if you win it all, and started off in a hard group then its a well deserved title
5. Daniel Powell | December 7, 2009 at 17:57
You don't honestly think ronaldo,ronaldinho deserve a place do you.admittedly ronaldinho is stepping it up at ac milan finally!! But ronaldo doesn't look half the great player he once was and just seems laboured you might as well put Romario on the plane.
be interesting to see what strikers Dunga does take, for me at the moment it would be: Luis Fabiano, Nilmar, Robinho, Adriano/Hulk/Tardelli.
Any other suggestions who might break into the squad?
6. carlos | December 8, 2009 at 11:13
Dunga should improve the selection. This is a suggestion:
Strikers: WELLITON, LUIS FABIANO, NILMAR, PATO, KERRISON. WELLITON has been threatening to join Russian NAtional Team. He should be stopped. He could make a valuable addition to the Selecao
ATTACK Midfielders: KAKA, ALEX, DIEGO, GUILHERME GUSMAO.
DEFESIVE Midfielders: ANDERSON, FELIPE MELO, FERNANDO (club bordeaux), HERNANAES.
DEFENDERS: FABIO AURELIO, ADRIANO CORREIRA, NALDO, THIAGO SILVA, LUCIO, DANIEL ALVES, MAICON.
7. Ziem Romanus | January 8, 2010 at 12:41
Many, especially anti brazilian supporters have it in though that it will not be that easy for us in this year's world cup with regard to the countries that we have to meet at the group stage and their greatest hope is to see brazil out. But they should bear in mind that it has always been like that for the passed tournaments and we always managed to secured a respectable position at the end of everything and their prayers of brazil being knock-out is the last prayer God will ever answer on this earth. It can rain cuts and dogs and any other animal but for this year, i mean for this tournament; South Africa 2010, no country is going to stop us from getting the ultimate- what i simply mean is the golden lining trophy.
8. gm | May 10, 2010 at 09:01
you have to beat the best to be considered the overall best. all teams tha qualified for the WC did so because they withstood the pressure. All tha is needed are mind games. remember inter managed to dump barca out of FA.
9. brasilboy | June 24, 2010 at 18:10
I liked your article. It seems Brazil is making it through with not problem. We shall see how it does with the big name teams coming up in the next round. This is for sure anyone's Cup. Let's hope it's Brazil.
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thanks