Tough Uruguay win puts Brazil on track for WCup
Source: Agencies |
June 28, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BRAZIL says the hard-fought win over an experienced Uruguayan squad has helped the team mature and gain more confidence for next year's World Cup, also being staged on home ground.
Brazil struggled to beat Uruguay 2-1 in the semifinal of the Confederations Cup on Wednesday, but coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and his players say there are a lot of positives to take from the match in Belo Horizonte.
Scolari says "this is what we're doing at this competition, we are growing."
Goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who saved a penalty when the match was scoreless, says the victory "is going to play an important role in making the team more mature in the future."
"The whole team is improving and this is something we can do when we play against teams like Uruguay and Italy," Scolari said. "When you play against Uruguay it's a different sort of match. There's a lot of rivalry between the teams and we get a little bit nervous."
Brazil defeated Italy 4-2 in the group stage of the warm-up competition, and the final will be against either the Italians or Spain, which were meeting in the other semifinal yesterday.
Brazil was not able to impose its style and struggled against the defending South American champion on Wednesday. It almost went a goal down early in the first half when Uruguay was awarded a penalty, but Julio Cesar made the save to keep the hosts in the game.
Brazil went ahead through Fred before Edinson Cavani equalized in the second half, and defensive midfielder Paulinho scored the winner with a header near the end of the match after a corner taken by Neymar.
"This kind of victory is going to play an important role in making the team more mature in the future," Julio Cesar said.
With experienced players such as Cavani, Diego Lugano, Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, Uruguay has been one of the best teams in South America in recent years. It finished fourth at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Scolari, who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, took over again last December. The team performed poorly in his first few matches but is now enjoying a five-match winning streak.
Brazil struggled to beat Uruguay 2-1 in the semifinal of the Confederations Cup on Wednesday, but coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and his players say there are a lot of positives to take from the match in Belo Horizonte.
Scolari says "this is what we're doing at this competition, we are growing."
Goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who saved a penalty when the match was scoreless, says the victory "is going to play an important role in making the team more mature in the future."
"The whole team is improving and this is something we can do when we play against teams like Uruguay and Italy," Scolari said. "When you play against Uruguay it's a different sort of match. There's a lot of rivalry between the teams and we get a little bit nervous."
Brazil defeated Italy 4-2 in the group stage of the warm-up competition, and the final will be against either the Italians or Spain, which were meeting in the other semifinal yesterday.
Brazil was not able to impose its style and struggled against the defending South American champion on Wednesday. It almost went a goal down early in the first half when Uruguay was awarded a penalty, but Julio Cesar made the save to keep the hosts in the game.
Brazil went ahead through Fred before Edinson Cavani equalized in the second half, and defensive midfielder Paulinho scored the winner with a header near the end of the match after a corner taken by Neymar.
"This kind of victory is going to play an important role in making the team more mature in the future," Julio Cesar said.
With experienced players such as Cavani, Diego Lugano, Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, Uruguay has been one of the best teams in South America in recent years. It finished fourth at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Scolari, who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, took over again last December. The team performed poorly in his first few matches but is now enjoying a five-match winning streak.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
