Brazil have moved to the front of the queue in terms of favourites to win the World Cup after an emphatic 3-1 win over the Ivory Coast.
Although Brazil conceded a goal late on, the performance was typical of Brazil sides of the past who like to entertain on their way to victory. There was very little that the Ivory Coast could do to cope with Brazil and this is a team considered the best in Africa.
Brazil’s game looked very solid and fluent. They passed the ball well in midfield, there was a great deal of trickery out wide and the attack looked very in sync and clinical.
If there are any doubts at all over this Brazil side then there will be slight worries over the fitness of a few players. The goal they conceded late on shows that they may have let their concentration slip. This may have been due to poor fitness and it could be something that costs them a game later in the tournament.
Entertaining
Brazil played football against the Ivory Coast that they are supposed to play whenever they step out onto a football pitch. There are better sides in the world at passing the ball around the pitch but no other team does it in such an entertaining fashion.
Luis Fabiano had a very good night scoring a brace and his second goal looked particularly impressive. That was until replays showed that he had handballed the ball twice in what would could have otherwise have been considered one of the greatest individual World Cup goals of all time.
Kaka also looked in much better form than the first game as he set-up a goal for Elano who had to later leave the field following a bad tackle. If Brazil are going to win this World Cup then Kaka has to continue playing in a very attacking and positive way.
However, the evening was ruined by the decision to send Kaka off, which will keep him out of the last group game and possibly the first knock out match that Brazil play in. Kaka was seen to be protecting himself from an Ivory Coast player who ran into him before falling down to the floor holding his face.
Slight Worries
There are one or two worries with this Brazil side but they are very slight worries. They can let their concentration dip at key times, which can often lead to them conceding goals they should never do. This was shown perfectly when Didier Drogba was allowed to run through the middle of two defenders and head into the corner of the net when the side were 3-0 up.
There could be repeats of the incident that surrounded Kaka. Sides will obviously have a much better chance of beating Brazil if they can get a numerical advantage on the field. This means that the second a Brazilian player picks up a yellow card, there will be members of the opposition team trying to get that person sent off for the rest of the game. This is a worry that Brazil can do nothing about but it’s something they will just have to play with.
Betting Advice
Anyone who watched the way Brazil played last night will be l*****g their lips as the sight of long odds on Brazil to win the World Cup from this point forward. They have all of the key players to do so but they will have to watch their injuries and try and stay disciplined in the face of gamesmanship from opposition teams who will do what they can to get an advantage.
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