Peru 1 - 1 Brazil: The Poorest Visitor Among the Top Nations of Football
By: Bruno Romani | November 18th, 2007
After the memorable match against Ecuador last month, expectations were high for the match between Brazil and Peru. Too bad Brazil is probably one of the poorest visitors among the big nations of football. The rhythm of the team was lethargic, poor, not creative. The connection was happening straight from defense to attack with no stop in the midfield. Ronaldinho, with an ankle injury, was an unpleasant shadow in the pitch.
Chances started happening with long-range shots for both sides, and towards the end of the first-half Brazil, conducted by Kaká, dominated in uncoordinated way the midfield. Before the final whistle, Kaká opened the score board with one of his powerful shots.
The second-half started and Brazil chose a more defensive posture, accepting the pressure of the locals. Dunga made a huge mistake by keeping injured Ronaldinho on the pitch. The chances for a counter-attack that would’ve killed the match were wasted with a numb midfield. The pressure started to increase and a man started to appear. Juan is becoming one of the best defenders to wear the yellow jersey in the past 10 years. Impressive job.
But pressure was becoming to big and Vargas, who plays in Brazilian football at Inter, tied the match. That had to happen for Dunga to make substitutions. He replaced Vagner Love by Luis Fabiano. Great choice. But he decided to keep Ronaldinho(!) and replaced Robinho(!!) by Elano (!!!). It’s hard not to describe the national squad as a Nike driven business when the coach decides not only to keep an injured player, but makes him play as a forward, position which physical contact gets even more intense.
The draw seemed the only possible result, but Juan, always him, almost changed the story of the game in the very last minute. In the corner-kick, Ronaldinho crossed the ball and Juan with a header hit the crossbar. Almost. Brazil did not deserve to win.
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I always think that Dunga cannot play Ronaldinho and Kaka together. Just like England’s Lampard and Gerrald. Both are unique players but it just don’t work.
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