When winning is all that matters

For the duration of this year's Copa America, Brazil has been criticized at home and abroad for not playing up to par with what has generally been perceived as the traditional Brazilian way of playing football. The 'jogo bonito', or beautiful game, style of play made Brazilians famous, with a controlled pace given to the game so as to entertain fans, dominate the opposing team and ultimately - if it came to it - win titles.

It worked superbly in a different era, when Brazil had the talent to play like this and almost always emerge victorious in the end. The team would surrender quite a few goals for deciding to play an open game filled with flair. But it would inevitably score more, and the team would generally come away with the win. When the quality of Brazilian players would decline, so would the rate of success of this type of strategy. Other teams learned to adapt and neutralize this kind of football too, and soon it was evident that Brazil would need to adapt if it was willing to keep on winning.

What followed was a total departure from that old game, and the beautiful game gave way to the game of results. It didn't matter how the game was won, all it mattered was the win. This is how Brazil barely managed to win its fourth World Cup title, in 1994. Captained by Dunga, the team was more concerned about defending first, and only then attacking. With sub-standard opponents in what was considered a weak World Cup, Brazil beat Italy in the final on a penalty shootout. Italy would have to wait another 12 years before it finally won its fourth World Cup title - curiously enough, in another poor World Cup, decided on penalty kicks.

Following Italy's win in 2006, Brazil's old captain, Dunga, was brought in to get Brazil back on track with a results-oriented philosophy. Giving too much attention to flair and players who worried too much about the 'jogo bonito', it seemed, had cost the country the chance to win the last world Cup. Instead of worrying about the team, each player seemed more concerned about his own future and personal contracts.

Concentrating on the end result would bring championships back to Brazil, and prima-donnas would no longer be tolerated. Instead, a hard-working team would give the country its best shot at winning. The first months of the new Dunga era saw alternating good and bad results, as the new coach tried several new faces. Slowly, the team started being shaped in the way Dunga wanted the game to be played. The way he played. Defending first and worrying about the attack later.

This is an approach which is as dangerous as the flamboyant style adopted earlier by Brazil. By taking this stance, Dunga ultimately levels down the field, and the Brazilians start playing similarly to other less-talented teams, which would not have a different option other than taking a defensive approach.

The Copa America showed how poorly Brazil can play when adopting this new style of play. But the effort of all players and the collective posture of the team as a unit first, and not a group of individuals, also showed how strong this mindset can be. A 2-0 loss to Mexico, a weak win over Ecuador, two good wins over Chile and a lucky one over Uruguay had put Brazil in the final of the competition against the heavily favoured Argentines.

A mixture of strength, commitment, some luck, and lots of effort gave Brazil its most remarkable performance of the Cup, when it mattered the most. By defending first, and cancelling Argentina's main plays - even if to do that the team had to commit a series of fouls to stop the opponents - the team was allowed to explore counterattacks and patiently build a 3-0 win.

To the Brazilians, this is the new 'jogo bonito'. If they can mix that kind of commitment and effort with the talent and flow of their flamboyant game, it will become even more beautiful.

Brazil beats Argentina 3-0

It didn't take long to see that this was a different Brazilian team than the one that had played a mostly lacklustre competition. Brazil started the final against the powerful Argentines taking some chances in attack, and patiently controlling the ball in midfield. Before the game was five minutes old, Julio Baptista received the ball inside the penalty box on the left wing, quickly cutting it towards the centre of the pitch past an opponent, and then perfectly placing it to the left of goalkeeper Abbondazieri.

Argentina couldn't create much, with the Brazilians crowding the midfield and stopping creative Riquelme with fouls whenever he tried to take more than a few steps with the ball. But the white-and-blues slowly tried to move forward, and almost tied the game in the 10th minute, when Riquelme took a great shot from 15 metres to hit the right post of the goal guarded by Doni. The Argentines seemed to patiently wait for their chances, which would definitely arise later in the game.

Or so they thought. Brazil still managed to create a few scoring opportunities of its own, and in one of those chances, defender Ayala deflected a cross from the right wing into his own net, in the 41st minute, to make it 2-0 for the defending champions. Argentina lost its patience, and came back to the second half desperately trying to tie the game.

With Argentina going forward and leaving more spaces back on defence, Brazil waited for the right opportunities to create a few chances in counterattacks. A two-goal lead was not enough to guarantee any kind of relief though, since everyone on the team knew how dangerously a 2-0 lead could turn around late in a game. In the 69th minute, Robinho found Vagner Love, who quickly moved up the field and passed to Daniel Alves on the right side of the penalty box. Alves shot the ball across the box into the lower right corner of Abbodanzieri's goal, and the game was all but over.

As Brazilians celebrated during the last few minutes of the game, Argentina was left to wonder how it lost yet again in a competition final, after dominating most of the tournament with clearly the best football of all competitors. For Brazil, it didn't matter, as a mostly discredited team rose to the occasion and beat their arch-rivals with an unquestionable 3-0 win.

Shootout gives Brazil a ticket to the final

Uruguay captain Diego Lugano is used to being in the middle of a celebration by Brazilians on a football pitch. After all, he became famous in Brazil after being part of a good Sao Paulo team that won important titles like the 2005 Libertadores and Intercontinental Cups. On Tuesday, he was once again in the middle of a Brazilian football celebration. Only this time it was for all the wrong reasons.

With Brazil leading 5-4 on a penalty shootout to decide the qualification to the 2007 Copa America final, Lugano could not put the ball into the net to give his team another chance of winning the game. Instead, he shot the ball right into the hands of Brazilian keeper Doni, who incidentally had taken three or four steps in the direction of the Uruguayan player before the ball was even touched. Colombian referee Oscar Ruiz validated the save nevertheless, and Brazil defeated Uruguay on a penalty shootout of a Copa America semifinal for the second straight time.

It wasn't supposed to have taken this long for the Brazilians to consolidate the win. Early in the game, the team coached by Dunga managed to create a few good chances and seemed in complete control after Maicon scored an early goal in the 13th minute. Three minutes later, however, all the lights in one of the illumination towers of the Maracaibo Stadium went out, and the match had to be interrupted for nearly 15 minutes. When the game resumed - without all the lights having being turned back on - the intensity of play had definitely cooled off.

It wasn't until the end of the first half, when Uruguay created a few good chances, that the level of play improved. Finally, after a series of frustrating corner kicks taken by veteran Alvaro Recoba, goalkeeper Doni failed to clear a cross and accidentally gave the ball away to forward Forlan, who quickly put the ball into the net to tie the game. Brazil managed to come back and finish the second half ahead though, when Julio Baptista took advantage of a free kick from the right wing to deflect the ball into the net, past goalkeeper Carini.

In the second half, both teams were cautious and did not give up many spaces back on defence. In one of the few chances created by Uruguay, however, Forlan crossed the ball to 'El Loco' Abreu from the left wing, and the forward hit it past Doni to tie the game. Brazil still tried to adopt a more offensive approach inserting Diego and Fernando in place of Julio Baptista and Josue, but to no avail. Afonso replaced Vagner Love and couldn't do much - except missing a penalty kick during the shootout.

With the 2-2 draw after 90 minutes of regulation, both teams took the pitch to decide the game on the shootout. Brazil had the early lead when Forlan missed the first kick for Uruguay, but as Fernando and Afonso hit the post in Brazil's third and fifth tries, Uruguay could have advanced if only Pablo Garcia had managed to score on the fifth attempt. He didn't, and as Gilberto scored Brazil's fifth goal in the sixth try, Lugano could only hope he'd also score to send the shootout to a seventh round. Instead, he kicked the ball right in the middle of the goal, where Doni was waiting for it.

The Uruguayans still tried to argue that the penalty should be re-taken, since the Brazilian keeper had taken so many steps towards the shooter before the actual kick. A melee almost ensued, but in the end there was nothing to do but watch the Brazilians celebrate. This time, Lugano didn't feel like taking part in the celebrations. All the veteran defender could do was to slowly walk back to the dressing room, looking incredulous as the happy Brazilians sang and danced.

Maracaibazo?

Brazil and Uruguay play tonight for the Copa America semifinal, in Maracaibo, Venezuela. The Brazilians are favourites, but not by a large margin - due mostly to the poor efforts the team has shown recently than any brilliance of the opponents in the last few matches.

True, both teams are coming from good victories in the quarterfinals (6-1 for Brazil against Chile and 4-1 for Uruguay over the hosts Venezuela). However, the oldest international tournament at the continental level has failed to create too much of a buzz yet again this year. After all, if the tournament was taken seriously, how could one explain the fact that two of the top players in the world, Ronaldinho Gaucho and Kaka, simply asked to be left out of the Brazilian squad? It's unimaginable to have something similar happen to a top European player asking to be left out of the finals of an European Championship.

Still, Uruguay is planning to surprise the favourites once again, just like they did 57 years ago, in the memorable 'Maracanazo' episode. In the 1950 World Cup final match, the Brazilians were as heavy a favourite as there can be in the match against their southern neighbours. Playing at home, the team was coming off excellent performances in which it simply toyed away with the opposition, defeating Spain 6-1 and Sweden 7-1. Uruguay, on the other hand, had barely beaten the Swedes 3-2 and tied the Spaniards 2-2. Brazil needed a simple tie in the final game, and fans had been celebrating the title even before the match had begun. When Brazil opened the score in the first minute of the second half, nobody would think the team could still lose the title. But that's just what happened, after Uruguay scored twice - at the 66th and 80th minutes - to win the game and the title. Nearly 200,000 fans left the stadium stunned and in silence, while the Uruguayans celebrated their greatest football achievement of all time.

So, will we have a new 'Maracanazo' in Maracaibo? A 'Maracaibazo'? Even if the Uruguayans win 3-0, it will hardly be as surprising as that win 57 years ago was. Brazil is still the favourite tonight, but not by that large a margin.

Atypical win takes Brazil to Copa America semis

If the U-20 team just managed to scrape by to the second round in their World Cup, the main squad had an easier time moving to the semifinals. After a controversial midweek when several players were accused of celebrating the qualification to the second round through excessive partying, Chile faced Brazil missing a few key players. Unluckily for the Chileans, the Brazilian team also chose to play its best game of the tournament so far. The combination of the hung-over crisis plus a more inspired team lead to a 6-1 trouncing in which the only positive note for the losing side was the goal scored in the second half, a terrific play by Suazo. Now Brazil will play Uruguay in one of the semifinals, after the two-time World champions defeated hosts Venezuela 4-1. The other semifinal promises to be a beauty, with Mexico coming over a 6-0 win over Paraguay and Argentina a 4-0 defeat of Peru.

Just enough

Brazil defeated Ecuador 1-0 on Wednesday, guaranteeing a spot in the 2007 Copa America quarterfinals. In an extremely poor match, with few scoring chances and just a handful of good plays, the Brazilians did just enough to prevent going home early. The lone goal was scored by Robinho, on a penalty kick, early in the second half. It was his fourth goal in three games in the tournament. The Real Madrid forward has scored all goals for the Brazilians in this year's Copa America.

After a 2-0 loss in its first match, against Mexico, Brazil recovered with two straight wins, 3-0 over Chile and 1-0 over Ecuador. Even then, however, the team still failed to display the high quality football that made it famous worldwide. Coach Dunga seems to be confirming the fans' worst fears that all he cares about is the end result, no matter how it's attained. In a way, he's a new Carlos Alberto Parreira. And a poor man's Parreira at that.

In a weird development thanks to the brilliance of the South American Confederation, Brazil - which finished in second on Group B - will get the chance to play a third-placed team, Chile, in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, first-placed Mexico will face a second-placed team, either Paraguay or Argentina.

Curiously enough, Chile and Brazil have already played in the first round. After a 3-0 win in that match, Brazil is the clear favourite in this game. However, onemust remember that if not for Robinho, the final result of that game could have been a lot different. Once again, it seems the team will depend on his inspiration to advance.

Against all odds

After eight matches for most teams, the Brazilian Serie A has another round scheduled for this Tuesday, July 3. Not that Tuesdays are a popular weekday for league matches in Brazil, but thanks to the continuing chaos that seems to control the sport in the country, most matches have been moved to Tuesdays and Saturdays this month, in order to keep interest in the collection of players currently representing the country at Venezuela's Copa America. Add to that the fact that many teams are also missing regulars which have been called up to the under-20 National team currently playing in the U20 World Cup in Canada, and what you have is a sub-standard version of the league being presented to the fans. At least, that's what one would expect.

Surprisingly, the last few rounds have been quite entertaining, and fan interest and attendance have been on the rise - more than 18,000 people on average watched the games last weekend. It remains to be seen for how long this trend can continue, but for the time being most teams are just trying to keep pace with the middle of the pack, hoping not to be completely out of the race for the title or continental qualification by the time the second half of the league arrives in September.

Seven games will be played on Tuesday, with the most anticipated one featuring league leaders Botafogo visiting second-place Goias, trying to increase their five-point lead at the top of the standings. The two most successful Brazilian teams in the last couple of years, Sao Paulo and Internacional, meanwhile, repeat the 2006 Libertadores final in a meeting at the Morumbi Stadium. Defending champions Sao Paulo are doing well, if not spectacularly in this year's tournament, managing to hang on to fourth place in the standings, while Inter is just outside of the relegation zone.

Other matches include Palmeiras and America Natal, Figueirense and Cruzeiro, Atletico Paranaense and Nautico and Gremio against Juventude. Brazilian Cup champions Fluminense host third-place Parana to close out Tuesday's games.

Three matches are scheduled for 4pm on Wednesday, a regular business day in Brazil - so that there's no competition for TV viewership when Brazil plays Ecuador at the Copa America in the evening. Sport plays Corinthians, Vasco faces Santos and Atletico meets Flamengo.

Will the attendance numbers keep rising. Highly unlikely, but this doesn't seem like an issue that bothers the Brazilian Confederation too much.