Brazilians on the balance sheet – Newspaper Kommersant No. 213 (7414) dated 11/17/2022

Group G of the World Cup, which starts on November 20 in Qatar, is very similar to the classic “group of death”. It has the Brazilian national team, which this time looks like a contender for gold without any reservations, two great European teams – Serbian and Swiss, as well as quite dangerous Cameroonians.

If you measure the strength of the team by the popularity of its players, the brightness emanating from their radiance, then the Brazilian team that will play in Qatari stadiums may not fall into the top five or top ten Brazilian teams in history. But in fact, she looks like a clear contender for gold – in any case, much more obvious than all her predecessors, who invariably stumbled on the near and not very close approaches to it after the triumphant Japanese-Korean championship in 2002.

It’s all about the exceptional balance that the Brazilians lacked before and that they got in the past four-year cycle under coach Tita. No matter which of the key areas you pay attention to, the Brazilian team has complete order everywhere. For example, which of Tite’s colleagues would refuse such a goalkeeper as Alisson? And who among them would not want to have such a center of defense, in which the exemplary player Marquinhos can be helped by both the colossal experience of Tiago Silva and the sharpness of Eder Militan? And who would not want to have in the middle of the field a whole squad of footballers who guarantee a fantastic density of play – from Casemiru and Lucas Paqueta, Fred and Fabinho? There are no real wizards among them, similar to the heroes of bygone days – Socrates and Zico, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, but magic may not be needed. After all, we haven’t reached the line of attack yet.

And everything about it is just gorgeous. Neymar, who has gone into his fourth decade, judging by the matches for PSG, is experiencing a second youth. Vinicius has become one of the leaders of Real Madrid, but even this honorary status does not guarantee him a hundred percent place in the base, because then what about Richarlison, Rafinha, Gabriel Jesus, Anthony, Rodrigo, Gabriel Martinelli? Painful in fact for Tite, who has at hand several different schemes of playing in attack at once, the choice. But at the same time, it must be assumed that suffering has a sweet aftertaste.

At the same time, it is important to know that Tite has already shown that he knows how to manage the set of players he inherited perfectly. Last year, the Brazilians, however, made a painful misfire, losing to the Argentines at home Copa America. But she was still an exception to the rule, confirmed both by the meetings of the qualifying tournament in the South American zone, and by friendly matches. In them, the Brazilians were almost invulnerable, and often loaded into the opponents’ goal, including strong opponents – such as the Uruguayans, Chileans, Tunisians, a whole stack of balls.

The Swiss national team always falls out of the lists of favorites of the “big” tournaments, but in general we are talking about a fantastically stable team that made it to the playoffs in four top tournaments in a row. And at the European Championships in the summer of 2021, she even skipped a round in it, and having coped not with anyone, but with the French world champions. Moreover, the Swiss could easily get into the semi-finals: the Spaniards defeated them only in the penalty shootout.

After the European Championship, the post of head coach of the Swiss team was replaced by Vladimir Petkovich, who had been in charge of it for a long time, Murat Yakin, and under him some changes took place with her. She abandoned the scheme with three central defenders, became less obsessed with possession of the ball. But the salt and essence of the Swiss team remained unchanged. And they lie in the fact that Swiss football is not so much about the personal qualities of the players, but about mutual understanding and complementarity, about powerful synergy that is invariably born within the team. Although with personal qualities, everything is fine. Goalkeeper Jan Sommer has over the roof experience. Captain Granit Xhaka is experiencing a new heyday in Arsenale, rushing to the top of the hierarchy of the English championship. Xherdan Shaqiri left to finish his game in America, but his skill, combativeness and playmaker’s gift have not gone away. Remo Freuler has developed over the years into the most reliable defensive midfielder by any measure. And Brel Embolo has gained such a decent form at Monaco that now Haris Seferovic is no longer an uncontested candidate for the role of strike forward of the national team, whose mediocre results in the League of Nations should not be misleading. For competitions of special importance, the Swiss have long learned to tune in in a special way.

The Serbian national team is no less curious than the Swiss one. A few days ago, the outstanding Brazilian football player Kaka, forming his list of contenders for victory in the World Cup, did not hesitate to include the Serbs in it. And it’s clear what made him do it. Kaka, like many others, apparently admired, first of all, the quality of his link, which will be responsible in Qatar for threats to other people’s goals and, in principle, for creativity. And it’s luxurious.

Ahead – two wonderful snipers in good shape, Alexander Mitrovic and Goran Vlahovic. Below them is the resourceful Dusan Tadic, from whom one should always expect some extraordinary solution. A little deeper – Sergei Milinkovich-Savic with his excellent dispatching skills. And from the flanks, they are supported by Andrija Zhivkovic and Filip Kostic, who are fast and able to deliver balls into the penalty area with crosses. This whole design looks insanely promising.

But there is a problem with the Serbs. Unlike the Brazilians and the Swiss, they lack balance. Coach Dragan Stojkovic has at his disposal an application saturated to the limit with attack-oriented players. But there are no elite defenders and goalkeepers in it. Although I must say that in the League of Nations, the Serbs conceded a little. But the Swedes, Norwegians and Slovenes are still not Brazilians.

It does not occur to anyone to include Cameroonians in the number of applicants for prizes, however, it is not recommended to look down on them either. At least the front line they have, like the Serbs, is quite sharp.

In it, it is possible that there is a place for the nimble Dynamo player Mumi Ngamalyo. But he is still far from the most prominent character in the Cameroon national team. Her fans pray first of all to the veteran Vincent Abubakar, who, although he is currently playing in the Saudi Arabian championship, has not lost his sniper instincts and proves it every time he comes to the national team, as well as Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who plays in the center of midfield . In Napoli, Anguissa is now one of the leaders, and it will not be surprising if he is among the revelations of the Qatari championship.

In addition, the Cameroonians have a fairly modern defense. She is mobile, and the inclusion of full-backs Nuhu Tolo and Collins Faye under the mentor Rigobert Song has become an unpleasant norm for opponents.

Alexey Dospekhov