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Brazil World Cup 2006 Team Profile

The Ranter runs an eye over the World cup favourites...

Brazil Kit 1 Copyright © Soccerphile	Brazil Kit 2 Copyright © Soccerphile

With a multi-talented array of attacking talent, the boys from Brazil will start the tournament as favourites in many pundit's eyes. Nothing less than victory will be good enough for 200 million Brazilian football fans. The hype back home will be relentless but rarely do the Brazilians disappoint when it comes to entertainment. While a South American side has not won on European soil for close to half a century, this could be the year that the drought ends.

Hopes rest on the shoulders of Barcelona's Ronaldinho once again, with the FIFA World Player of the Year set to cement his reputation as the planet's finest player. Yet doubts surround the Brazilian's ability to both stop conceding goals and settle on a winning formation.

Milan's Dida has been the mainstay in goal for a number of seasons now, although his club form has been patchy of late. However, he has little competition despite Internazionale's Julio Cesar helping 'Seleção' win the 2004 Copa America. It is at the back that Brazil's Achilles heal lies with both first choice full-backs Cafu and Roberto Carlos aging less than gracefully.

The attacking right-sided player Cichino may come into the side, although he has failed to settle smoothly into Real Madrid's team since joining in the January transfer window. In central defence coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will choose two from Bayern's Lucio and the Bayer Leverkusen pair Roque Junior and Juan. Whatever combination, they will offer opposition forwards chances - it will be up to Brazil's forwards to the outscore them!

In midfield Brazil boast riches beyond compare. Ronaldinho will be supported by three from Kaka, Gilberto Silva, Edmilson, Júlio Baptista, Emerson, Zé Roberto, Ricardinho, Edmílson, and Juninho Pernambuco. Two holding players and two playmakers are likely to play behind the principal forwards Ronaldo and Adriano in a 4-2-2-2 formation.

The strength in depth in forward areas will depend on Parreira's selection, with Lyon's bright young striker Fred pushing for an opportunity that he may not get. Sao Paolo's Ricardo Oliveira could also find himself on the sidelines despite playing a part in the qualification tournament. The big question for Parreira, however, is how to squeeze the wonderful Robinho into the side and maintain a balanced formation.

Qualification itself was achieved with something to spare, Brazil matching Argentina for points and beating their old rivals along the way. But it also exposed frailties that opponents will look to exploit at World Cup 2006. The major worry is the fitness and form of Ronaldo, who despite being the continent's top scorer with 10 in qualification, is a shadow of the player who burst onto the scene a decade ago.

INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

• Winners of the 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002 World Cups
• Reached the final of the 1950 and 1998 World Cups
• Winners of the Copa America in 1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999 and 2004
WORLD CUP RECORD
Brazil have appeared in every World Cup since the competition's inception in 1930
COLOURS
Yellow shirts with a green trim, blue shorts, blue socks.
TEAM STARS

Adriano (Adriano Leite Ribeiro)
Age: 24
Height: 189cm
Weight: 91kg
Club: Internazionale
International career: 34 caps, 22 goals
It may seem like an eternity since the Rio-born forward came to Europe but Adriano has at last come of age. After three seasons on loan to Parma and Fiorentina, Inter's "L'Imperatore" is now terrorising Italian defences. He has also become the mainstay of the national team's strike-force, often starting alongside Ronaldo under the Parreira regime. Perhaps the big question for Brazil should not be whether Ronaldo can remain fit but whether the Real Madrid man is cramping Adriano's style.

Kaká (Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite)
Age: 22
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 73 kg
Club: A.C Milano
International career: 32 caps, 11 goals
The same old boring story - another magical Brazilian creative talent! This time in the shape of Kaká an old fashioned playmaker with a modern twist. He drifts between the midfield and the forwards at will, picking holes in opposition defences and scoring some spectacular goals too. Kaká's game is simpler, more European, than his contemporary Ronaldinho, but he is just as effective. The challenge as always with Brazilian creative talent, will be to squeeze him into the side.

Robinho (Robson de Souza)
Age: 22
Height: 172 cm
Weight: 60 kg
Club: Real Madrid
International career: 17 caps, 4 goals
He may not start for Brazil but he has the talent to have a major impact on the tournament. The boy with magic in his boots is a winger-cum-forward - in all honesty he doesn't know himself. His ability to beat multiple defenders with ease will make him a fans' favourite. However, the distinction between Robinho and, for example, the bag-of-tricks winger Denilson is that the Real Madrid forward can produce an end product.

COACH

Carlos Alberto Parreira (63) has already coached Brazil to glory in 1994 and is back in the job for his third stint by popular demand. He has worked on-and-off with the Brazilian national team since he worked as a fitness coach with the cup-winning 1970 team. A legendary figure who has taken four different sides - Kuwait (1982), United Arab Emirates (1990), Brazil (1994) and Saudi Arabia (1998) - to the World Cup. In between Parreira has traveled the football world in search of work having worked with Fluminense and Corinthians in his homeland, MetroStars in the USA, and Fenerbahçe in Turkey.

World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Dida (AC Milan),
Defenders Cafu (AC Milan), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid), Cicinho (Real Madrid), Cris (Olympique Lyon), Juan (Bayer Leverkusen), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Luisao (Benfica)
Midfielders Edmilson (Barcelona), Emerson (Juventus), Juninho Pernambucano (Olympique Lyon), Kaka (AC Milan), Ricardinho (Corinthians), Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Ze Roberto (Bayern Munich)
Forwards Adriano (Inter Milan), Fred (Olympique Lyon), Robinho (Real Madrid), Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (Barcelona)

Brazil World Cup 2010 Team Profile

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