Tim Howard of Everton v Julio Cesar of Inter Milan?
Lucio of Bayern v DeMerit of Watford?
Kaka of Real Madrid v Clint Dempsey of Fulham?
Yes, the USA have a chance. Their organisation is good and their commitment phenomenal. They are 90-minute competitors and very disciplined, except for the odd bad tackle. We did not think the USA could beat Spain 2-0 but they did.
This is a rehearsal tournament and Brazil came into it off two tense, tough World Cup qualifiers.
The most boring Brazil team was the one Dunga captained in USA 94.That template is one nobody wanted to see repeated : one super-poacher (Romario), a tiny link-man who was perpetual motion (Bebeto) and eight defenders. In the final they beat Italy in a penalty shoot-out.
Dunga is now the coach and his fringe players have been bang average in this Confederations Cup. Their performances don’t demand inclusion. Corinthians left back Andre Santos, Fiorentina No.5 Melo, and Cruzeiro right winger Ramires would not have got anywhere near any of Brazil’s five World Cup-winning teams. Elano has a lot more class than Ramires.
Dunga’s problem today will be scoring a goal, especially Luis Fabiano is a rugged centre forward of a type that USA may be able to handle. I’m a Fabiano fan, always have been, and I hope he scores tonight. But I won’t be betting on it.
To win the World Cup, Brazil need to be more like Sevilla. Or, perhaps, like France were in 1998.
To play like Sevilla did in 2006 when they beat Middlesbrough 4-0 to win the Uefa Cup, Brazil need a player who can do what Ronaldinho did in 2002. A playmaker who is energetic, pro-active, combative, resourceful, a team leader, a dynamo who can drive attacks from the middle third and make things happen.
Unfortunately, there is no player anywhere who can do what Ronaldinho was doing in 2002. There is nobody with that skill, power, vision and invention.
That is clear.
Brazil don’t have a player like that and neither does anybody else.
So what should Dunga do?
Move Dani Alves into midfield !
Combative, fiery and confident, Dani Alves is a treble-winner with Barcelona and he scored the 88th-minute goal against South Africa in the semi-final.
In my view, Dunga has six core players for the World Cup : skipper Lucio, keeper Julio Cesar, Kaka, Gilberto, Fabiano and Dani Alves.The others are good but not irreplaceable
He should keep the powerhouse Maicon at right back, and keep Gilberto and Juan, big men with big experience. That is eight pretty essential players in total. Robinho would only be the 9th player on my team-sheet.
Having watched Felipe Melo closely in three games, I can’t see Wenger paying £12 million for him. He’s not the answer for Brazil. Or Arsenal.
Brazil are unbeaten in 15 games and have won their last six and kept 10 clean sheets. Their defence is very good.
What doesn’t work is an attack that relies far too much on Kaka, who now operates from the left flank, rather than making slaloms through centrefield.
Kaka is tired and the team he’s playing in doesn’t have enough personalities. If he played in centre midfield he would get kicked, blocked and battered. He would have less space than he does on the left flank where he mostly operates now. He is the key man. If Kaka has a bad game tonight, Brazil could lose.
The solution is simple: Drop Melo and put Dani Alves there with a licence to roam inside and join up with Fabiano, his former buddy at Sevilla.
What I’m proposing is a bit like what Aime Jacquet did in 1998, when he started Thierry Henry in the easy games and Karembeu in the hard games.
In that team Henry was a superfast right winger who could explode into one-on- one positions and score. Karembeu was an athletic half-back who could tackle and make short passes and help Deschamps, Petit and Zidane to control midfield. The more solid Karembeu made them, the more Zidane could get forward.
Dani Alves is a more creative player than Karembeu and Dunga must give him a bigger role. He’s more reliable than Robinho and deserves a bigger role. Otherwise Kaka has too much to do.
What about tonight’s final in Johannesburg?
It’s on BBC3 from 7pm and it will be a rough, hard battle. Brazil to win by one goal.
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In Paris in 1998, Ronaldo had a fit, should not have played, there was a fierce row in the dressing room after Edmundo was named on the official team-sheet and then put on the bench. Brazil did not warm up ! Henry was about to come on when Desailly was sent off for scattering Cafu. France won 3-0.
BRAZIL : Taffarel; Cafu, Aldair, Junior Baiano, Roberto Carlos; Leonardo (Denilson, 46th), Cesar Sampaio (Edmundo) Dunga, Rivaldo; Ronaldo, Bebeto.
FRANCE : Fabien Barthez; Lilian Thuram; Frank Leboeuf, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu; Christian Karembeu (Alain Boghossian ), Didier Deschamps, Zinedine Zidane, Emmanuel Petit; Youri Djorkaeff (Patrick Vieira ), Stephane Guivarc’h (Christophe Dugarry).