Roberto Carlos leaves Corinthians for Russian club Anzhi

Corinthians has confirmed the departure of left back Roberto Carlos by "mutual consent" after the player expressed a desire to leave the club following harassment by fans after the elimination of Corinthians from the Copa Libertadores. Carlos and his family received a number of threats from irate fans after Corinthians's February 2 elimination. The Brazilian club just reported that Roberto Carlos will sign with the Russian club Anzhi for a reported $9 million a year, for a two year contract with the option of an extension for another year. The 37 year old is widely regarded as the best left back football has witnessed in the last 30 years. The Brazilian national team has begun to find replacements for the brilliance of their former right back Cafu in the form of Maicon and Dani Alves, but thus far have been unable to locate a player of Carlos's extraordinary pace, strength and vision on the left flank. Ronaldo of Brazil also remarked on the possibility of leaving Corinthians after suffering similar harassment by fans because of their poor Copa Libertadores performance. Ronaldo revealed considering early retirement immediately but appears set to continue at Corinthians for the time being.

Flashback: Ronaldinho Sinks England in World Cup 2002

World Cup Quarterfinals. Brazil v. England.

June 31, 2002
Shizuoka, Shizuoka Stadium, Japan

At the quarterfinals stage of the 2002 World Cup, Brazil, England and Germany were the only remaining teams with that had hoisted the World Cup title before. Given how the World Cup trophy had then been claimed by an elite group of seven nations (Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay), every soccer pundit worth his grain of salt knew that the Brazil-England match-up promised to tell volumes about the likely winner of the 2002 World Cup trophy. France and Argentina had rolled into the tournament as strong favorites, crushing their opponents in the months preceding the tournament, whereas Brazil had struggled in qualifying, ultimately scraping their way to qualification after firing coaches Wanderlei Luxemburgo and Emerson Leao and replacing them with "Big Phil" Luiz Felipe Scolari.

But as the opening matches of World Cup 2002 unfolded, Brazil rediscovered their form and conjured up shades of 1970 as the Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho combination gradually proved virtually unstoppable. The group stages begun with a 2-1 victory over Turkey, 4-0 against China, and 5-2 against Costa Rica. But as in proverbial mythology, where the hero encounters a monster or demon he has to slay in order to access the treasure or love he seeks, Brazil had two such demons to slay in 2002: Belgium and England. Brazil struggled furiously against a highly disciplined Belgian side in the second round, winning thanks only to a magical goal from Allessandro Rivaldo in the 67th minute. Goalkeeper Marcos kept Brazil in the game against a relentless Belgian onslaught lead by Marc Wilmots, Mpenza and Wesley Sonck. Ronaldinho's assist to Rivaldo and a follow-up goal from Ronaldo ultimately enabled Brazil to secure victory in a game when they looked far from their best. Now Brazil found themselves facing David Beckham and coach Sven Goran Ericksson in the form of a team, that like themselves, had come to Japan and Korea to win.

One of the key match-ups in the Brazil v. England game was Lucio versus Michael Owen. Owen had faced Lucio on a number of occasions in the Champions League the season prior, and had succeeded in navigating his way around the skilled Brazilian defender. Within 21 minutes, the World Cup match-up proved no exception as Lucio mishandled a long through ball and allowed the opportunistic Owen to calmly dispatch the ball in the back of the net after having remained invisible for much of the match thus far. For the very first time in the tournament, Brazil were behind in what appeared like an ominous sign for the South Americans who, unlike their German and Italian counterparts, historically do not play well when down a goal or two.

Owen's goal had the converse effect of making Brazil, all of a sudden, begin to play like champions, as if their title were at stake now that France had been unexpectedly eliminated in the group stages. Clad in white and blue, the Selecao inched forward systematically through the left, right and center as Sven Goran Ericksson withdrew virtually all of his players into England's half of the pitch in an effort to barricade David Seaman's goal against any hope of a Brazilian equalizer. Brazil tried everything to get past the English defense. Roberto Carlos barrelled in balls from the left and Cafu rifled in shots from the right, all the while hoping that the ball would carom to Ronaldo and Rivaldo near the mouth of goal. But Brazil had no such luck given the way Ericksson had packed the eighteen yard box and so they opted to attack with central defenders such as Lucio and Edmilson. Once again, the English defense stood firm. But with just seconds left on the clock before the end of the first half, David Beckham hurdled to avoid injury from a possible collision on the left touchline in the Brazilian half. Ronaldinho picked up the ball near center circle and ran at the English defense, dummying Ashley Cole into going to ground before dishing off the ball to Rivaldo on the right side, who dispatched the ball into the far left corner of the net with his golden left foot. For the second game in succession, the Ronaldinho-Rivaldo combination produced a scintillating goal that, in this case, brought Brazil back into the dressing on level terms at half time.

Rivaldo's goal ever so slightly shifted the momentum in Brazil's favor. As in the Belgium game, Ronaldinho began cropping up on the right hand flank and then the left as the English defense struggled to mark the 3 Rs composed of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. Brazil's offense was undergirded by an important tactical shift wherein the defensive midfielder Kleberson started the match instead of the offensive midfielder Juninho Paulista. Kleberson added more steel to Brazil's defense by supporting Gilberto Silva and allowing the skilled players to express themselves. Seemingly frustrated by Scolari's substitution, English midfielder Nicky Butt hacked down Kleberson in the 48th minute. The ever smiling Ronaldinho protested to the referee Felipe Ramos Rizo that Butt deserved a yellow card, but to no avail. Dinho then lined up to take a free kick from 35 meters. Almost everyone expected Dinho to aim for the head of Lucio, Edmilson or Rivaldo, but instead, the ball magically curled over David Seaman and into the back of the net. Anticipating a cross, Seaman had come off his line but Ronaldinho had the skill to beat him. The ensuing goal celebration saw Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Cafu celebrate in the far right corner of the touchline, with Ronaldinho clutching his jersey as he gestured to the crowd that he was more than worthy of wearing the number 11 shirt for Brazil. In the days prior to the Brazil-England match, many an English soccer commentator had claimed that Ronaldinho was not of the caliber of Rivaldo or Ronaldo, but Dinho effectively silenced his critics by setting up the critical equalizer and then scoring the game winning goal from a spectacular free kick.

But the Ronaldinho drama had yet to fully unfold. Dinho's free kick accelerated the intensity and fierceness of play on England's part, as the game suddenly witnessed rougher England tackles and sliding challenges galore. Brazil responded with tough play of their own. In the 56th minute, Ronaldinho stood on Danny Mill's boot and appeared to hit Mills's face with his right arm. The referee responded by displaying a red card without the slightest hesitation. Cafu, Ronaldo and Rivaldo talked to the referee at length in an apparent attempt to make him reverse his decision, and Dinho himself expressed disbelief and surprise at the red card. Forced to leave the pitch, the buck toothed man of the match was consoled by Cafu, who cradled Ronaldinho's head in his hand and whispered with classic Brazilian hubris, "Don't worry. We are going to win the game for you."

In the ensuing 34 minutes, Scolari brought Brazil back to his Gremio days from 1993-1996, during which time he advocated ball possession at the expense of attacking football, especially once Gremio had secured a lead. And Brazil went on to produce a magnificent display of one touch passing and possession football by taking seconds off the clock as they invited their tired English counterparts to chase the ball in all corners of the field. Big Phil substituted Edilson for Ronaldo in the 70th minute, withdrew Roberto Carlos to play more defense and gave Cafu the freedom to taunt English defenders into ball chasing, only to encounter a savvy pass to Gilberto or Rivaldo. And when the whistle blew at half time, everyone knew that, under Scolari, Brazil had gelled into a championship team that would be difficult to beat. Kleberson had proven to be the wild card, the ace, the joker in the pack that Scolari had used to unleash his 3 Rs and cement the Brazilian defensive midfield. With this victory against England, Brazil now needed only two more wins to become pentacampeão, five time World Cup champions. Brazil now faced Turkey in the semi-finals in a re-match of one of their group stage encounters.

Flashback: Tears of Regret and Friendship: Bebeto and Leonardo in World Cup 1994

Pele's tears of joy after Brazil won the 1958 World Cup in Sweden are well documented in photographic and video archives, as are Mario Zagallo's tears of joy in World Cup 1998 and Romario's tears of sadness after failing to make the 1998 World Cup squad. Less well known are Leonardo's tears of regret after earning a red card for elbowing Tab Ramos in the Brazil v. USA second round match of World Cup 1994. The Brazil v. USA match famously marked the continued evolution of the Romario and Bebeto strike partnership, featuring, in this case, Romario's assist to Bebeto after overcoming a tangle of defenders. Romario's pass set up Bebeto's game winning, Carlos Alberto-like strike on goal past Tony Meola from the right flank. Bebeto described Leonardo's tears in a FIFA interview as follows:

"When I went into the dressing room at half-time in that game, I saw Leo, someone I've always been very fond of because we started out together with Flamengo. He was sitting there in the corner, crying his eyes out, so I told him not to worry as I would score the winning goal for us."

Bebeto returns to the dressing room at half time to find Leonardo bawling his eyes out and consoles him by telling him he will score the winning goal and negate the setback to the Brazil team created by Leonardo's red card. In this exchange, Bebeto performs what contemporary psychologists call self-actualization by visualizing himself scoring the crucial game winning goal. True to his vision, Bebeto went on to score in precisely the manner that he promised to his friend and teammate Leonardo.

Speaking of his promise to Leonardo, Bebeto remarked:

"And with the help of God I did. When I returned to the dressing room afterwards, he gave me a big hug and thanked me profusely. Without a doubt, I felt something very strong in that game. Something God-given."

Something viscerally powerful about the friendship between Bebeto and Leonardo sparks Brazil's victory. Leonardo's tears touch Bebeto to the point where he assumes responsibility for his friend's sadness, and he returns to the pitch intent to restore his friend's spirits. And after the ball touches the back of the net, Bebeto becomes convinced that Brazil will indeed become four times champions with a conviction that borders on the sublime. "From that moment, I was convinced that we would become four-time World Cup winners," Bebeto reflected.

A similar red card incident transpired the next time Brazil won the World Cup in 2002 in the quarterfinals against England. Ronaldinho received a red card for a foul on Danny Mills and this time, Cafu played the role that Bebeto had played in 1994, by putting his arm around Ronaldinho's shoulder as he was leaving the field and telling him with uncanny conviction: "Don't worry. We will win the game for you."

For more on Brazil v. USA, World Cup 1994, see:

Bringing Back the Beautiful Game. Deadly Striker Partnerships: Romario and Bebeto (Part 2 of 2)

Sources cited: Bebeto's FIFA Interview

Neymar, Ganso, Robinho and Pato Lead the New Brazil to Victory

Brazil produced a scintillating display of one touch passing and attacking football in a 2-0 victory over team USA. In his first game as coach of the Brazilian national football team, Mano Menezes opted to give the uncapped Ganso the famed number 10 jersey while assigning the hallowed number 11 and 7 shirts to wingers Neymar and Robinho respectively, with number 9 going to AC Milan striker Alexander Pato. Mano chose a 4-2-3-1 formation with Andre Santos, David Luiz, Thiago Silva and Dani Alves in defense, followed by Ramires and Lucas as defensive midfielders, Neymar, Ganso and Robinho as the attacking midfield trio and Pato in the role of the lone target striker.

Football aficionados and casual fans alike saw a young Brazilian team find each other, maintain possession of the ball and create dangerous scoring opportunities from every inch of the field. Gone was Dunga's strategy of keeping eight men behind the ball and bursting forward with lightning speed on the counter-attack. Similarly, Mario Zagallo and Luiz Felipe Scolari's formulaic strategy of attacking down the flanks with players such as Roberto Carlos and Cafu, and a predominantly defensive midfield, rapidly became history.The Brazilian team went back to their roots in one touch passing, maintaining possession and creating opportunities to score wherever they presented itself.

Neymar and Robinho exchanged places on the left and right flanks throughout the game and similarly, Ganso followed the attack on both flanks and through the center. Ganso approached his wingers whenever they needed help and shadowed left back Andre Santos as he came forward and contributed to the Brazilian attack. The 18 year old Neymar, however, was the real star of the game, tearing down the left flank and then coming into the center, finding Andre Santo's cross from the left corner and burying the ball in the bottom left corner of the net with his head to score the first goal in the 29th minute. The second goal featured Ganso going forward, deep into the heart of the U.S. midfield, calmly passing to Ramires who in turn found Alexander Pato. Pato rounded the keeper and tucked the ball into the back of the net in the 46th minute with a degree of poise that recalled his compatriot Ronaldo's composure in side-stepping keepers as a starlet in Europe. Robinho played a phenomenal game in the captain's arm-band, appearing on the left to support Neymar and Ganso in various moments and facilitating the attack on the right side of the pitch with Ramires, Lucas and Dani Alves as well.

Brazil's possession and passing were simply magnificent. Minutes flew by in the second half when Bob Bradley's team obtained possession only in the event of a Brazilian give-away or an inadvertent foul that lead to a rare U.S. set piece. Admittedly, Brazil could have made more of their scoring opportunities but critics should keep in mind it was the first game both for the coach and many of the players, away from home, in a stadium packed with 77,223 fans. In the second half, Mano brought on substitutes Hernanes, Carlos Eduardo, Jucilei, Andre and Diego Tardelli but the fluidity and pace of the game hardly changed a blink.

Bob Bradley and the U.S. soccer federation, meanwhile, encountered the familiar problem of getting a U.S. striker involved in a high percentage scoring play, let alone scoring a goal. Brazil neutralized a strong U.S. midfield and came close to scoring a third goal on at least 3-4 occasions. Mano and the CBF are off to a promising start while Sunil Gulati and the U.S. Soccer Federation, conversely, have much thinking to do about the upcoming path for the U.S. national team.

Which Mano Menezes Will Show Up as Coach of the Selecao?

What kind of coach will Mano Menezes (Mano) become at the helm of the Brazilian national football team? For starters, Mano is a fan of precisely the 4-2-3-1 formation that Brazil used in South Africa. He is well known for his ability to restore teams such as Gremio and Corinthians to glory after suffering humiliating relegations to their respective second divisions. And, like his predecessors, Carlos Dunga and Luiz Felipe Scolari, Mano has historically professed a certain pragmatism to football, with an emphasis on winning, even if this means sitting on the lead and hogging ball possession at the expense of going forward to score more goals. Mano's teams have tended to play with two defensive midfielders and score on the counter-attack in much the same fashion as Brazil under the Dunga era from 2006 to 2010.

But in a recent interview, Mano promised to turn his back on a footballing philosophy of pragmatism as the head of the national team.

"We are going to rescue our style. Brazil has it's own way of playing," he noted in an August 3, 2010 interview with Sport TV.

"We want to recover that tradition of being the protagonists, and stop being bit-part actors looking for the rival mistake. The world now plays more similar to that Brazil and we ourselves have distanced ourselves from it."

That said, it's really anyone's guess as to what kind of coach Menezes becomes as he settles into his role as director of the Selecao.

Consider the case of Luiz Felipe Scolari, for example, in leading the Seleaco to World Cup victory in Yokohama, Japan in the summer of 2002. Like Dunga, Scolari was initially known for his commitment to tough tackling and rough, defensive minded play. An ardent supporter of a strong defense and quick counter-attacks, he championed winning at the expense of beautiful football. As coach of Gremio from 1993-1996, Scolari threatened to bench players for not committing enough fouls, and additionally became famous for encouraging player ball-boys to throw balls onto the field when opponents were about to take a throw-in, or having his players solicit the help of local police against visiting teams in the event of an on field fracas.

In Korea and Japan in the summer of 2002, something remarkable happened to Scolari's rough and defensive style of play. Brazil's starting line-up initially featured Roberto Carlos and Cafu attacking down the left and right flanks respectively, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho as the triumvirate "3 Rs" strikeforce, and another offensive midfielder in the form of Juninho Paulista attacking down the center. Fans were dumbfounded by Scolari's offensive formation, especially since the rigidity of his earlier career had given way to a fluid, samba style of soccer where players would routinely switch positions instead of sticking to a predetermined tactical formation. The result produced moments of magic for the Brazilian national football team at a level unseen since 1982. Fans will recall Edmilson's sublime bicycle kick goal in their 5-2 demolition of Costa Rica, Rivaldo's magical goal in the 67th minute against Belgium, Ronaldinho's sublime free kick against England in the quarterfinal to mark a 2-1 come from behind victory and, most importantly, the great strength of Ronaldo in and around the box, scoring 8 goals in 7 games, shaking off defenders shamelessly and putting the ball where it belongs.

But Scolari had at his disposal an extraordinary crop of players, the quality of which Menezes is unlikely to have unless Robinho, Pato, Neymar, Ganso and company blossom into world class talent that can hold their form over the greater part of a decade. Time will tell, but the interesting thing is that, for all the talk of renovation, rebuilding, rebirth and jogo bonito in Brazil, few people in Brazil are calling Ricardo Teixeira's bluff and noting how the Brazilian Confederation of Football's choice of a coach for the Selecao seems disturbingly similar to Dunga and the early Scolari, at precisely the moment when Brazilian football needs radical change.