Brazil team faces storm of criticism
Brazilian media unanimously criticized the home team after a poor opening match.at Copa America 2011. Meanwhile, Venezuela was personally praised by President Hugo Chavez for their achievement of holding Brazil to a draw.
Having won the World Cup five times and the Copa America in the last two editions, Brazil is naturally considered one of the two strongest candidates, along with host Argentina, for the South American championship this time. However, what they showed in the opening match against the much weaker Venezuela was completely unworthy of Brazil's status as a giant.
The 4-2-1-3 formation with Ganso behind the trio of Robinho - Neymar - Pato was not effective. Brazil completely dominated the game, launched a series of shots, but all they could do was hit the crossbar by Pato. Even when coach Menezes put on all the strategic reserve players such as Elano, Lucas Moura, Elano, the situation still did not improve.
For Venezuela, holding Brazil to a draw is a miracle.
The 0-0 draw in the men's team's debut match inevitably led to comparisons between the Brazilian public and the women's team. On the same day, the Brazilian women's team crushed their strong opponent Norway 3-0 to confidently advance to the quarter-finals of Group D of the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany.
"The men's team played an unprecedentedly stupid game against Venezuela and the players left the pitch in disgrace," O'Globo commented on its front page. The daily also bluntly criticized the four attacking stars in the starting lineup: "Neymar, Ganso, Pato, Robinho? They all played badly."
O'Gobo sees Marta, the star of the women's team who scored twice against Norway in Germany, as a consolation: "Luckily, we also have Marta to rejoice over."
“Uninspired” was the headline in the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, which treated the 0-0 draw with Venezuela as a defeat. “Brazil lost their first competitive match under Menezes and left the pitch booed.”
Meanwhile, O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper strongly criticized Brazil's finishing and expressed skepticism about the reform goals set by coach Menezes after replacing Dunga last summer. "They lack decisiveness and effort in attack. The renewal of the Brazilian team has been a big disappointment."
The newspaper also used an incident in the match to criticize Brazil's performance against Venezuela: "When the most remarkable thing in the match was just a dog running onto the field and making the crowd applaud, we can easily imagine the quality of that match."
Lance Sports Daily borrowed the nickname "The Vinotinto" (meaning red wine in Spanish) to criticize the Brazilian team: "Today, our team tasted a bitter and disappointing wine."
On the other hand, the Venezuelan press was proud of their team's draw with Brazil. "A point is worth gold", both El Nacional and El Universal commented. Ultimas Noticias said: "Today we enjoyed a fine wine".
Even President Hugo Chavez, who recently returned from Cuba after surgery for a malignant tumor, expressed his excitement at Venezuela's opening game. "An excellent performance. We are proud of our boys. My best wishes to coach Cesar Farias and to all of you," he wrote on Twitter.
According to VnExpress.net
