Paraguay v Brazil, 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers - Carlos Dunga survives the Paraguayan scare, but....

In each game the pressure of performing well on the Selecao remains huge. The Brazilians fans are thirsty of a better show from their beloved team, but after the end of a match, their wish remains unfulfilled. And when Carlos Dunga was reappointed as the coach of Brazil National Football Team after the disastrous World Cup campaign two years ago, Brazil’s overall performance has been shoddy. Dunga’s start was sound, but that rosy feeling ebbed away gradually and at present, the Selecao triggers shock waves among the fans.

After a dismal show against Uruguay, Carlos Dunga received a lot of criticism regarding his team selection. But, Dunga is one of those rare species, who will not compromise with his ego and nonsensical ideas. Mediocrity is his name of the game and for which, he creates a Brazilian XI with some substandard strikers, defenders and midfielders. Each day he is destroying the spirit of Brazilian football, but he remains unfazed by the massive destruction he is doing to Brazilian football.

But one thing for sure, someone up there is quite happy with him as time and again, he’s escaping from the jaws of humiliation. He escaped from being humiliated against Uruguay and tonight, he survived the Paraguay scare.

With due respect to Ramon Diaz and his team, they are not the side of the late 90s and early 00s, who were a hard nut to crack. Currently, they are just the shadow of the past and it is always expected that, teams like Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay should overcome them without breaking enough sweat. But tonight, for a brief period Brazil found it tough against them and again, it was Dunga’s mind-boggling selection policy which made Brazil to suffer a lot.

Brazil were a lost soul in the first fifty minutes
 

Ramon Diaz’s men attacked from the first half. One could hardly trace Brazil in the midfield and forward position. Paraguayan midfield and forwards pressed hard and it seemed that Brazil was a lost soul and got afraid of the opposition. Renato Augusto was awful tonight, whereas, Luis Gustavo found it tough on the pitch to take command on the midfield. Ricardo Oliveira proved to be a big flop, Douglas Costa and Willian were not able to squeeze through the flanks. Meanwhile, Dani Alves and Felipe Luis continued to struggle while the two central defenders, Miranda and Gil, reminded everyone how valuable Thiago Silva is for Brazil. Alisson was the hero again for Brazil who weathered the early storm bravely. But how long can he protect Brazil if there is inadequate support from the Defence? Paraguay utilized Brazil’s fragility in defence and went 2-0 ahead. Brazil were stunned.

Paraguay decide to defend the lead

Paraguay decided not to score more, but defend the total and I think, that was a mistake. You can’t take things too reluctantly with still forty minutes of play remaining. They pushed back, thinking that this dispirited Brazil unit won’t be able to bounce back and being a follower of the Selecao, even I was not thinking of a Brazil come back as this Brazil team plays pragmatic football, which can never help them to come back and Dunga had not selected the ideal players to put chills down the spines of Paraguayan defense.

Brazil shift to fourth gear

2-0 down. The fans were frustrated. Brazil were at risk of going down to the eighth place in the South American World Cup Qualifying points table. The situation was muddy and something had to be done to bounce back. To my utter astonishment, Brazil decided to go for an all-out-attack. The midfield, defence and the lone striker all came forward to restore Brazil’s pride. Dunga made some crucial substitutions which injected a bit of life in this team.

Players like Hulk and Lucas Lima, were the keys in maintaining a balance between attack and anchoring the midfield. But above all, in true sense of term, Brazil exploited Paraguay’s pragmatic approach after the 50^th minute and didn’t give up fighting till the very end.

Ricardo Oliveira, the weakest link in this Brazil team, kept on wasting opportunities after opportunities, but was able to reduce the lead to 2-1 by scoring from a rebound with just ten minutes remaining. In the 90^th minute, it looked all over for Brazil, but they kept on attacking. At stoppage time, Dani Alves raced into the box, side-stepped his man and finished with his weaker left foot to save Brazil’s face.

Brazil look better when they attack

Brazil look better when they play attacking football. This is the fact which has made them the darling of world football. In the last forty minutes of tonight’s match, their attacking brand of football was a treat to watch. Suddenly, Willian and Douglas Costa rediscovered their mojo, Hulk was exhibiting his brute force by dishing out thunderous shots towards the Paraguayn goal post, the heroes of the past like Dani Alves and Felipe Luis, became centre forwards and Lucas Lima shielded the poor display of Renato Augusto smartly and motored the midfield well as soon as he was introduced in the 70^th minute. Brazil’s aggressive football in the last forty minutes should make Dunga realize which brand of football pays off better for Brazil.

Brazil’s central-defence was shocking,

I repeat, Brazil needs Thiago Silva. Despite, poor performance after performance, Miranda’s inclusion doesn’t make any sense and how qualified is he to lead Brazil remains a moot question. Had Brazil played against a better side tonight, they would have easily exploited the vacant areas in the defence while Brazil were in an attacking mode. Players like Miranda are a liability for a team like Brazil and to strengthen the defence, Thiago Silva and Marquinhos are a must in the team.

Carlos Dunga escaped the Paraguyan scare, but he should not continue as the coach of Brazil

Brazil snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat, but such things don’t happen everyday. Carlos Dunga’s pathetic team selection is proving costly for Brazil day by day. Neither he shuns his pragmatic approach nor does he select the right players and this has been a matter of irritation and headache for the fans. Just imagine, Phelippe Coutinho, Lucas Moura, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro, Danilo, Casemiro, Lucas Lima etc playing in the same team alongside Neymar – they’ll be superb to watch. In the mean time, if you advise these players to curb their attacking instinct and hamper their freedom, they’ll struggle big time.

Attacking football is the brand which suits Brazil and Dunga is not the right man to unleash this brand of football.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar