BRAZIL Vs NORTH KOREA PREVIEW
The lowest ranked team at this years competition versus the highest ranked team, five time champions against the country only making their second appearance at the World Cup, Kaka, Robinho and Maicon up against Pak, Ki, Ri and Guk. Brazil opposed to North Korea is as big a clash of two contrasting culture as you will ever come across at any stage, let alone at the Football world cup.
Mind you this is not the same North Korea that enchanted the world audiences with a shock advance to the quarter finals at the 1966 event, this North Korea is a different incarnation altogether, this is a North Korea that bears an embodiment of their political regime back home, patriotic to the core, shrouded in secrecy and severely scared of and mistrusting the media.
After an extravagant effort to attempt a coup on FIFA when they named a striker as a goal keeper in their squad spectacularly backfired, their prime concern now in this group of death will be to defend their lines with their lives with a cautious 4-5-1 formation that has proven to be difficult to break down in their qualifying campaign. North Korea’s attacking impetus will be relying entirely on their lone striker, ‘the peoples Rooney’, Jong Tae-se.
While the Brazilian squad of this year is not as swashbuckling as their predecessors but they still have the like of Fabiano, Kakam Alves and Robinho, who can turn any game on its head just on the basis of individual skill and trickery. The Samba boys are overwhelming favourites for this year’s world cup and this game should not prove to be anything more than a formality for the 5 time champions. However, after seeing two upsets last night where Paraguay holds the reigning champions to a draw and Cameroon losing to Japan nothing can be taken for granted.
This is the first ever meeting between the two teams and Brazil go into the match with a fully fit squad as Coach Dunga is set to put down a marker for the rest of the tournament with a convincing win in the opening match.
Inter Milan’s Champions League winning goal keeper is set to take his position between the posts meaning Tottenham’s Gomez will only have to be content with a place on the bench.
Luis Fabiano will lead the attack for the South Americans with Kaka and Robinho playing as a support cast for the Sevilla front man. While the South Americans are can be sure of cracking one or two smiles during the tournament, the Koreans will not be expecting to celebrate a goal with a Samba shuffle of their own, not at least in this match given the array of highly skilled array of superstars that they have to face tonight.
Brazil have won the World cup in every continent that it has even been staged in and winning it in Africa will only complete the set. They have won 25 out of their last 26 matches with the only loss coming to Bolivia at high altitude in La Paz.
Luis Fabiano, who is set to lead the attack for the South Americans tonight has not scored for his country in the last 8 matches, his last goal came against their bitter rivals Argentina in the qualifying rounds back in September ’09.
Brazil boasts the oldest squad that is taking part in this year’s world cup with their side’s average age being over 28 years.
Despite their Defensive frame of mind Korea have scored 5 times in their last five games and have only conceded 7 in their last 16 outings.
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