Hulk Inspires Brazil To 3-1 Victory Over Denmark

Brazil cruised to a 3-1 victory over Denmark in today’s international friendly match in Hamburg thanks to two goals by Hulk and a Danish own goal. Mano Menezes fielded his preferred 4-3-3 formation with Thiago Silva and Juan in central defense, accompanied by Marcelo and Danilo in the left and right fullback position, respectively. Brazil opted for two deep playing midfielders in Sandro and Romulo, who were positioned behind attacking midfielders Oscar and Lucas Moura. Leandro Damiao and Hulk formed the Brazilian strike partnership with Hulk on the right in a position similar to that which he plays for Porto. Notably, Mano Menezes started the right footed Lucas Moura on the left flank, as a left winger supplementing the Damiao-Hulk pairing.

Denmark’s Marten Olsen opted for a 4-5-1 formation with Bendtner in attack behind a five man midfield composed of Niki Zimling, Lasse Schone, Christian Eriksen, Christian Poulsen and Michael Krohn-Dehli. The match began with lively end to end football from both teams. Hulk opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a blistering left footed strike from roughly 25 meters that marked his debut goal for the Selecao. Bolstered by confidence from having scored the opening goal, Brazil gradually obtained a grip on possession and began splaying the ball from wing to wing, with both Danilo and Marcelo looking dangerous. Five minutes later, Hulk became involved in Brazil’s second goal. Oscar popped up on the far right flank in the box and passed to Hulk, who became the foil that led Zimling to inadvertently knock the ball into his own net. With less than 15 minutes gone, Brazil were off to a dream, 2-0 start.

Denmark began to find their rhythm at the half hour mark through combination play featuring Eriksen, Krohn-Dehli and Bendtner, but failed to find the back of the net despite a sustained period of possession. Then, in trademark fashion, Brazil struck just when it looked as if their opponent were about to get the upper hand on the flow of the game. Hulk collected the ball from Oscar’s tackle on Danish defender Agger, dribbled behind the Danish defense and maintained his composure in front of goalkeeper Andersen by taking the ball onto his left foot and dispatching it low and to the right past the keeper’s left hand to make it 3-0.

The second half featured more threatening play from the Danes as Brazil became less imaginative when it came to attacks. Denmark, correspondingly, began to control midfield possession. Daniel Agger missed a tap-in, golden opportunity to make it 3-1 in the 48th minute from a Wass pass delivered from the right flank. Olsen replaced Christian Eriksen with Dennis Rommedahl in the 62nd minute in a substitution that increased the danger and frequency of Denmark’s attacks. In the 71st minute, Denmark’s search for a breakthrough goal bore fruit when Zimling streamed down the left flank and found Bendtner in the box, who calmly tapped the ball in from close range to make it 3-1.

With the goal advantage cut from three to two, Brazil became more disciplined and were helped by fresh legs due to a bevy of substitutions such as Rafael, Wellington Nem, Giuliano, Casemiro and Bruno Uvini. Denmark continued to press the attack but Brazil regained some possession thanks to Casemiro and Oscar in midfield, and Wellington Nem playing as a right winger. The score stood at 3-1 as the referee blew his whistle in a match that marked a thrilling result for a young Brazilian team. Brazil fans will take heart from Hulk’s brace and overall impressive play. Moreover, Oscar delivered a stellar performance in the number 10 jersey and was involved in all three goals.

Brazil have now won seven consecutive matches and next face the United States on May 30 in the second of four friendlies before the Olympics. Denmark next play Australia on June 2 before their opening match against Holland on June 9 in Group B of Euro 2012. Denmark have been drawn in the "group of death" for Euro 2012 alongside Holland, Germany and Portugal.

Starting Lineups:

Brazil:

Jefferson (GK), Thiago Silva, Juan, Danilo, Marcelo, Sandro, Romulo, Lucas, Oscar, Leandro Damiao, Hulk

Denmark:

Thomas Sorensen (GK), Simon Kjaer, Daniel Agger, Simon Poulsen, Daniel Wass, Christian Poulsen, Christian Eriksen, Lasse Schone, Niki Zimling, Michael Krohn-Dehli, Nicklas Bendtner

Goals
Brazil: Hulk (8), Zimling (OG), Hulk (40)
Denmark: Bendtner (71)

Player Profile: Rivaldo

When Brazil arrived in France for the 1998 World Cup, Mario Zagallo was faced with the choice of which player to award the mythical number 10 jersey. In the matches leading up to the World Cup, Denilson Oliveira had worn the number 10 shirt on a number of occasions, but questions lingered as to whether the 20 year old sensation could fit into the attacking line-up given the presence of Ronaldo and Bebeto on the national team. Much to the controversy of the Brazilian media, Zagallo chose Rivaldo, the Barcelona striker and playmaker whose golden left foot had terrorized Spanish defenses since 1997. Many in the Brazilian press felt that Rivaldo was incapable of bearing the weight of the number 10 jersey that had once belonged to Pele, Zico and Rai. As the tournament unfolded and Ronaldo failed to score quite as many goals as expected, critics singled out Rivaldo as the cause of Ronaldo's lack of goals by claiming that he dribbled too much and selfishly held onto the ball when he should have passed to the strikers in front of him.

Everything changed in the quarterfinal match against Denmark. Brazil went down to an early goal in the 2nd minute by Martin Jorgensen but equalized, ten minutes later, thanks to a magnificent through ball to Bebeto from Ronaldo. The 34 year old Bebeto demonstrated all of his experience by maintaining his composure as he clinically dispatched the ball past the right of the diving goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. In the 27th minute, Ronaldo once again displayed terrific vision and positional awareness by creating yet another through pass, this time to Rivaldo, who promptly buried it in the back of the net from a narrow angle near the left touchline. Rivaldo had put Brazil ahead and scored his second goal of the tournament.

Just after halftime, Roberto Carlos tried to clear a loose ball in the area with a bicycle kick and missed, giving Danish striker Brian Laudrup the opportunity to rocket the ball into the roof of the net with his right foot past Claudio Taffarel. In the 50th minute, the match was tied 2-2 and Brazil were now in deep trouble. Another goal from Denmark or an ultra-defensive formation from them could spell trouble and pave the way for an early World Cup exit. But once again, Rivaldo rose to the occasion and took the match on his shoulders by living up to his number 10 shirt. In the 60th minute, Rivaldo turned on a pass from Dunga and converged on goal after having been given a pasture of space by the Danish defense. Taking sight of room to Schmeichel's left, the Barcelona striker unleashed a lawnmower shot into the bottom left corner of goal to score a dramatic goal that restored Brazil's lead. From that moment on, Rivaldo took over the Brazilian midfield by dribbling through Danish defenders, finding Ronaldo, Denilson, Leonardo, Roberto Carlos and Cafu and using the outside of his left foot to craft unexpected passes that troubled the Danish defense. Rivaldo answered the critics who said he was unworthy of the Brazil number 10 shirt and went on to create the killer pass that enabled Ronaldo to score against the Dutch in the semifinals in Marseille in the subsequent match.

In Word Cup 2002, Rivaldo--again in the number 10 shirt--took over the Brazilian attacking midfield yet again, and scored in five consecutive World Cup games against Turkey, China, Costa Rica, Belgium and England. As a club player, he is best known for his performances at Barcelona where he won the La Liga title in 1998 and 1999. In one of his more astonishing performances for Barcelona, Rivaldo scored a hat-trick in 2001 against Valencia featuring a curling strike from a free kick, a long range left footed shot and finally, a sublime bicycle kick goal that turned the score from 2-2 to 3-2 in Barcelona's favor with just minutes remaining on the clock. With his gangly legs and dribbling ability that recalled the Brazilian great Garrincha, Rivaldo represented the first truly creative Brazilian midfielder since Socrates. Nevertheless, his greatness was all too often eclipsed by his historical conjunction with legends such as Romario and Ronaldo who tended to steal the spotlight because of their raw goalscoring ability in contrast to Rivaldo's unique combination of playmaking ability and goalscoring power.

Now 38 years old, Rivaldo has just signed with the Brazilian club Sao Paulo after serving stints in Greece with Olympiacos and AEK Athens, Turkey with Bunyodkor and most recently, as President of the Brazilian club Mogi Mirim. In what appears to be evidence of reverse globalization, domestic Brazilian football now features Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos at Corinthians, Rivaldo at Sao Paulo and Ronaldinho at Flamengo.

Flashback: Tears of Joy for Mario Zagallo After Brazil's Victory Against Netherlands

July 7, 1998, Stade Velodrome, Marseille, France
World Cup Semi-Finals: Brazil v. Netherlands (1-1; 4-2 on penalties)

Football fans await the World Cup with baited breath every four years, but the World Cup of 1998 figured exceptionally in the hearts and dreams of soccer fans all over the world because of one man: Ronaldo. The buck toothed Brazilian striker had been in blistering form in 1996 and 1997 with Barcelona and Inter Milan respectively. In the 1996-1997 season, he scored 47 goals in 49 games for Barcelona and went on to score 34 goals in 47 games for Inter in the 1997-1998 season, his first in Italian football. Although he had accompanied the Brazilian team to World Cup glory in 1994 at the tender age of 18, Ronaldo did not play in a single World Cup game in the U.S. and hence was widely expected to take the 1998 World Cup by storm. Now, at the age of 22, Ronaldo commanded the field as if he were a 30 year old after having had the experience of captaining Inter Milan in the latter stages of a gripping battle for the Scudetto that saw Inter inched out of the title by Juventus in the final games.

Having reached the semi-finals against Holland, only two games stood between Brazil and World Cup victory. Coached by Mario Zagallo, Brazil arrived in France as favorites, largely on the strength of Ronaldo’s shoulders and his ability to change a game. The team had just come through a thrilling 3-2 victory over Denmark in the round of 16, but they knew the Dutch would be more organized and exhibit a greater degree of ball control than the Danes. Zagallo fielded a 4-2-2-2 formation with Roberto Carlos, Aldair, Junior Baiano and Cafu in defense, Dunga and Cesar Sampaio in defensive midfield, Rivaldo and Leonardo as attacking midfielders and strikers Ronaldo and Bebeto up front wearing the number 9 and 20 shirts respectively. Full-backs Roberto Carlos and Cafu had carte blanche license to supplement the Brazilian attack by roaming up and down the flanks. As the tournament unfolded, Brazil fans warmed to the brilliance of Barcelona striker Rivaldo, whose golden left foot scored two pivotal goals in the preceding match against Denmark.

The Dutch fielded their share of world class talent in a standard, European 4-4-2 formation with Phillip Cocu, Frank de Boer, Jaap Stam and Michael Reiziger in defense, Zenden, Edgar Davids, Wim Jonk and Ronald de Boer in midfield, and the illustrious strike partnership of Patrick Kluivert and Dennis Bergkamp up front. The game featured two central match-ups: Dunga and Edgar Davids went head to head in the battle for midfield while Jaap Stam was given the Herculean assignment of man marking Ronaldo. Given the history of Brazil’s climactic 3-2 victory against Holland in the 1994 World Cup, both teams began gingerly, treating each other with tremendous respect and collectively creating a first half stalemate as the Dutch did well to contain Brazil's overlapping full-backs and render it difficult for Rivaldo and Leonardo to create space in midfield. Conversely, Aldair and Junior Baiano gave Bergkamp little room to play and shut down the supply of passes to Patrick Kluivert.

Scarcely had the whistle blown after half-time, however, than Roberto Carlos found Rivaldo, who in turn delivered a terrific through ball to a Ronaldo who raced into space behind the Dutch defense, fended off shirt pulling from Frank de Boer and buried the ball through the legs of Edwin van der Sar to open the scoring. In this piece of play, we saw Ronaldo at his trademark best, getting away from his marker Stam and maintaining his balance on the run despite Frank de Boer’s efforts to restrain him. But despite numerous opportunities for Brazil to capitalize on their lead, they failed to score a second goal and ultimately fell prey to the aerial strength of the Dutch in the form of a header equalizer by Patrick Kluivert in the 87th minute. Nevertheless, Brazil continued to threaten both deep into regular play and the 30 minutes of injury time. Denilson entered the game as a substitute for Bebeto in the 70th minute and he and Roberto Carlos took ownership of the left flank, creating multiple opportunities for Ronaldo and Rivaldo in the process. Ronaldo had a bicycle kick chance on goal that was defended off the line by Frank de Boer in addition to a curling, right footed shot saved by Edwin van der Sar as the game turned into a nerve racking battle with the prospect of the match ending at any minute in extra time given the golden goal rule.

At every moment in which play was suspended, Zagallo talked earnestly to his team. Stepping out of his usual contemplative position on the bench, he passionately delivered instructions to his team and waved his hands in illustration as the match wore on into extra time. As the referee blew the whistle for penalty kicks, both teams collapsed in exhaustion on the pitch. Zagallo began yelling wildly and moved from player to player, embracing their faces with his hands like a father and injecting a final dose of energy, power and belief into his team. He told them that Brazil was going to win the match and ultimately lift the trophy in the final. And after Taffarel made the final save in the dramatic penalty shoot-out, the "Old Wolf" as Zagallo is nicknamed in Brazil, burst into tears of joy.

The 66 year old Zagallo had broken down into tears after Brazil's thrilling 3-2 victory against Denmark in the quarterfinals. Flushed with deep feelings after the Denmark game, Zagallo required medication to calm his irregular heartbeat. But after the semi-final victory against the Netherlands, the Brazilian celebrations were even more effusive than against Denmark since the nerve jangling victory had required penalty kick conversions from Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Emerson and Dunga, and near clairvoyant saves from goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel. On the pitch, Dunga and Taffarel chest humped each other in celebration. Meanwhile, on the bench, Zagallo burst into tears as he was hugged by Zico and the rest of the Brazil coaching staff. Unable to contain himself, Zagallo strolled onto the Stade Velodrome somberly, took off his spectacles and wiped the tears flowing from his eyes as he took stock of the stunning victory. Despite all his experience as both a player and a coach, Zagallo wept on the field for two matches in a row like an Italian at the opera. Calming his racing heart, the Old Wolf celebrated with tears of joy as he looked ahead to the dream final where Brazil would defend their World Cup title against the home team at the Stade de France on Sunday.

Carlos Dunga: A Retrospective

By his own admission, Brazil’s most recent national coach Carlos Dunga stamped the national team with a pragmatic, counter-attacking style of play that many critics felt derailed the team from its true roots in attacking, attractive football. Socrates, the legendary Brazilian midfielder and captain of the 1982 World Cup team, lamented the pragmatism of Dunga’s style as follows:

“In these times of football as a business, winning became everything and the game is dominated by pragmatism. It is a shame even at the financial point of view, because Brazil could still be cashing in by using their unique tradition of flair, but we have given that away in order to chase trophies.”

1970 World Cup winner Gerson added to the criticism of Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (Dunga)in a recent interview by claiming Ronaldinho’s omission from South Africa 2010 was unjustified:

"Holland are a good team but nothing exceptional. Leaving Ronaldinho out of the squad made no sense. So he likes to party? So what? What matters is that he knows how to play football at the highest level. Dunga couldn't train a team of bottle tops."

Socrates and Gerson may well be right in their position that Brazilian born players are not suited to counter-attacking football, but it would be unjust to facilely ignore and deride Dunga’s contribution to the national team over the course of a long and illustrious career.

When I think of Dunga I recall his leadership as a player more than anything else as captain of the Brazilian side in 1994 and 1998. In 1998, he imposed his authority on the squad in a manner that quickly solicited rumors that he was in line to coach the national team soon after his tenure as a player was over. Both in the build-up to France 1998 and the tournament itself, Dunga commanded not only the midfield but the team as a whole. When Dunga captained Brazil against Germany in a friendly in Stuggart in March 1998 in the lead-up to France, coach Mario Zagallo fielded a star studded squad with names that rolled trippingly off any soccer aficionado’s toungue. We saw Roberto Carlos tearing down the left flank, Cafu commanding the right and Ronaldo, Romario and Rivaldo near the mouth of goal with Bebeto on the bench and the young sensation Denilson wearing the number 10 jersey.

In one defensive confrontation between Roberto Carlos and Jorg Heinrich, Roberto Carlos was uncharacteristically about to lose his man as latter cut inside from the flank. True to form as a good captain, Dunga sensed the danger early and sprinted from the center of the pitch to win back the ball and initiate a dangerous counter-attack. Months later in France 1998, he routinely reprimanded his team-mates for failing to win a tackle or execute an incisive pass, even going so far as to feign a head-butt against Bebeto in the second match against Morocco. In the quarterfinal against Denmark, Roberto Carlos missed a defensive bicycle kick close to the edge of the penalty area, allowing Brian Laudrup to clinically dispatch the loose ball into the top right corner of the net, leaving the defending champions fighting for their World Cup lives with the score even at 2-2 in the 50th minute.

Immediately, Dunga began gesticulating to the crowd to inspire his team mates. Ten minutes later, his pass found the magical left foot of Rivaldo, who capitalized on the pasture of space left him by the Danish defense by sending a left footed rocket into the back of the net in what became the winning goal in a thrilling 3-2 victory. Never afraid to express his opinion or assert his authority on the pitch, he became synonymous for leadership, inspirational play and passion for the game. The semi-finals featured penalties against the Dutch with Dunga scoring the critical 4th penalty that, moments later, unfolded into the remarkable scene of he and goal-keeper Claudio Taffarel chest-butting each other in celebration as viewers saw, in tandem, tears of joy from Mario Zagallo, the coach.

As the coach of Brazil, the knives were out for Dunga in the fall of 2008 when the team had been held to three goalless draws against Argentina, Bolivia and Columbia. The national side had failed to score on home soil for a year and there was much speculation that he would be fired if dramatic results didn’t transpire soon. And then Brazil played Portugal on November 19, 2008 in Brasilia at the Garrincha stadium. Sensing there was something on the line, the team emerged in glorious form, passing the ball across all inches of the pitch as if their opponents were hardly present, neutralizing Cristiano Ronaldo and executing a dazzling 6-2 victory marked by a hat-trick by Luis Fabiano. The win marked the beginning of a string of excellent results in the South American qualifiers featuring a 3-1 victory against Argentina that constituted their first win over their arch-rivals in Argentina since 1995. Many had thought Dunga would be fired before the qualifiers were completed but he himself noted how the pressure was unrelenting for a Brazilian coach and, like his mother, who struggles daily with his father’s Alzheimer’s disease, he vowed to never give up.

Brazil finished top of the South American qualifying group, won Copa America and won the Confederations Cup. But their games—and even their victories—lacked panache. Dunga had many virtues as a coach, but the team was always in the process of finding itself, at precisely the moments when it should have found itself. On one hand, Dunga’s belief in hard work and teamwork was admirable for a squad that historically lacked discipline out of an unspoken arrogance in the global superiority of their technical ability. And his coaching philosophy—based as it was on a commitment to the basics of defending—and the importance of the rapport between a coach and his players, was well liked by many of the European based players who sensed how difficult it was to beat European teams who knew how to mark their opponents and impose pressure on the Brazilian full-backs the way the French had done in both 1998 and 2006. But the games themselves were ugly and disappointing, save for the occasional moments of brilliance when Kaka, Robinho, Ramires, Fabiano and company would combine down the center.

Brazil failed to find a playmaker in midfield who could orchestrate attacks, and they deviated from the passing game in midfield that won Spain the World Cup. Socrates and Gerson were right to say that Brazil are accustomed to imposing their games on their opponents and that to play any other way is almost invariably a disaster. And to play with one pure striker doesn’t exactly suit Brazil either, who have succeeded, in recent times, only when pairs of strikers such Romario and Bebeto and Ronaldo and Rivaldo stretch defences, occasionally allowing a third striker like Ronaldinho or Alexander Pato to destabilize defences even further. All this is to say that Mano Menezes, Dunga’s replacement, has his work cut out for him. The way ahead for Menezes not clear, but he is certain to encounter the results of the effort and leadership that Dunga invested in the national team, and will need to remould that philosophy and vision accordingly.